A Hunter out of Place
by Shadow Amongst Shadows
Summary: "I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe." -Jango Fett. When a hunt goes wrong, Jango is sent to an unknown galaxy. With no friends or allies, can Jango find his way back home? Complete with a sequel incoming!
1. Prologue: A Bounty Gone Wrong

Shadow - A few notes here for the story and what you can expect.

Jango will be getting his ship and weapons and won't necessarily always be one of the good guys. 

Shepard is a female paragon. 

I don't plan on pairing anyone in the story as of yet. This may change in the future. 

* * *

**A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Prologue: A Bounty Gone Wrong  
_

* * *

This was supposed to be an easy mission. He was supposed to simply bag and grab the target, collect his pay, and head home to Boba. The blaster fire going over Jango's head at the moment would say otherwise. He'd gone in to get the target but he didn't expect the resistance of at least fifty armed guards. It was supposed to be just one rogue Kaminoan that Dooku apparently wanted. Reports and scans showed little activity on the swampy world of Abraxin. The compound however was highly guarded but he had slipped past the guards and made it in, getting out proved to be far harder as he started a firefight with the entirety of the compound. He currently had the bounty tied up with his whipcord and was running from a rather large group of hired thugs.

The muddy terrain made it almost impossible to sprint in but his ship was only parked about one hundred feet away. He sloshed through the swampy water while dragging his bounty. Looking over his shoulder and shooting a few times at his pursuers who were steadily getting closer. He was closing the distance now with only fifty feet left. He felt a shot graze his shoulder but his Mandalorian armor held. He walked out of the water still carrying his prisoner. Jango simply had to walk just a bit more to his destination. Upon reaching his ship he opened the door and lowered the ramp, he dropped to the ground, the back of his leg burning from a blaster shot. He turned around to grab his prisoner but he spotted his prisoner already wielding something in his hands.

The Kaminoan smirked as he chucked a round like object at Jango and ran for his life. Jango immediately reached for the small round object but before he could reach it the item detonated. His vision blurred as he couldn't quite see past his helmet anymore. The pain that came with whatever was happening was intense. Jango was a strong willed man however and tried his best to hang on. The force of whatever happened eventually caused him to black out despite his efforts.

Jango awoke to the sight of a rather pleasant looking field. His head swiveled as he took in his surroundings. Grass surrounded him and what looked like primitive buildings stood in the distance. He slowly stood up from the ramp of his ship and looked around. No Kiminoan in sight. Jango sighed before muttering. "Damn Kiminoan was more trouble than he was worth." Deciding his best bet to figuring out where he currently was standing was the basic looking town in the distance. Jango set out towards the town at a casual pace.

Upon hearing gunfire however Jango slowed his approach and prepared his weapons; pulling out his Westar-34 blaster pistols. He saw something that looked somewhat familiar and yet foreign at the same time, a machine that worked much like the droids from the Federation. The droids were currently slaughtering the inhabitants of the town as he took cover behind a rather large building. Jango cursed himself for not bringing all the weapons he had stored on the Slave I.

He felt himself lift off the ground as he used his jetpack to get to the roof of the building. With his new position he could see more of the town he was in. He spotted two aliens below he hadn't ever seen before, though that wasn't the most surprising thing, the universe is a big place. They were talking about something but he couldn't quite hear them with the current distance. He used his helmet's zooming function and microphone to hear.

He only was able to listen in halfway through the conversation. "-Ought you could use some help on this one." The Cyborg or at least what he thought was a cyborg with his enhancements, said as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder. Jango began recording the exchange with his helmet as the red one said. "I wasn't expecting to find Geth here. The situation's bad." Jango saw the red one turn his back. "Bad move on his part." Jango muttered as he watched the cyborg pull out a pistol and aim it at the red one's head. "I've got it under control." The cyborg said before blowing the other alien's brains out.

Then Jango heard it; the sound of something taking off. When Jango turned back to looked, he spotted a massive ship the size of a star destroyer taking off into orbit. Red electricity sparking off the ship as it gained speed. Once it was gone, Jango turned back to find the cyborg leaving his area. He used his jetpack to descend down to the dead alien and searched his dead corpse for anything useful. He synced his suit with whatever odd system the alien was using. Upon collecting the information however, Jango realized he wasn't home anymore. Jango wasn't even in his own galaxy anymore. The star charts looked completely different and he hadn't heard of this Citadel before.

Jango heard some rummaging from behind him and quickly pulled out his pistol before whipping around to face whoever was hiding from him. "P-Please don't shoot." A rather cowardly looking man uttered as he slowly stepped out from behind the box. Jango thought on it for a second before saying. "Don't tell anyone I was here and you get to live." The man muttered a meek "thank you" before darting behind his boxes again. "How did that idiot manage to survive?" Jango muttered to himself as he took a few credits off the man. Strange that a galaxy different from his own used the same basic currency as his. He looked up to see approaching figures in the distance and quickly left the area; not quite wanting to be seen quite yet. He ran around the corner before using his jetpack to lift himself onto the roof.

* * *

Shadow - Thanks for reading. This is only a prologue sorry its kinda short. _It's supposed to give you a bit more incentive to read the rest of the story._

 _Anyways, thanks for reading._


	2. Chapter 1: Damn Droids

Shadow – Hey there, just a few notes before you begin reading.

The story will mostly be told in Jango's perspective but will sometimes switch to Shepard's.

I did some research on the shields and technology comparing Mass Effect and Star Wars. Turns out the shields in mass effect aren't very affective at stopping energy weapons like blasters. So lasers will go through most shields in Mass Effect.

I will be using the Extended Universe version of Jango seeing as how I have some backstory to go on.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 1: Damn Droids_

* * *

Jango had just settled into his position on the roof when the three figures came into view. They were all wearing helmets so he couldn't get an amazing view of their faces. He had to turn his helmet's microphone on and zoom back in order to hear their conversation. Jango could identify one male and two females. The lead female pointed her gun at the boxes the cowardly man was hiding behind before he came out of cover. "Wait! Don't- Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human."

Jango was at least somewhat relieved someone else other than him had found the idiot. Those machines really were doing a poor job. "Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!" The lead woman said as she lowered her weapon. "I… I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures." He heard the coward say before pointing at himself. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him." Jango glared at the back of the man's head as he waited to see if the man would rat him out. "I need to know how Nihlus died." The leader said as she took on a more at ease stance. "The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other." That gave Jango the rest of the story as to how the event happened. "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down… and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

The man seemed to keep his mouth shut about Jango however and the lead woman asked. "We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?" That's what these grunts were after then? Jango could guess if the local military wanted it he'd get a good look at it first. "It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend." The man leaned on one of the boxes before continuing. "I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates, I'd be dead too!"

Jango didn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation. He stood up and moved to the side of the building where the trio couldn't see him. He used his jetpack to get down before moving for the tram ahead of the group. He used a local map he got from Nihlus's dead body to pinpoint his object then Jango clicked a few buttons on his wrist and signaled for his ship to pilot itself to an area close to his destination and land.

* * *

Shepard had seen her radar go off as an unknown bogie left their area. She had just finished talking to Powell and gotten a few extra grenades he had taken from the local military forces stationed here. "Did you both see that?" She asked her two companions as she turned away from Powell and he went back into hiding. "Yah, I don't know what it was though; definitely not a Geth at least." She heard Kaiden reply as they moved past the man. She moved around the corner only to duck back as Geth shot at her. "Kaiden get the other side. Ashley take my position." Shepard ordered as she ran forward into better cover. A geth shot a few rounds at her but quickly went down as Kaiden filled the machine full of lead.

Within a few minutes, the trio had demolished any geth standing in-between them and the tram. "Let's move people. We can't let the geth get that beacon." Shepard said as she stepped on the tram followed shortly after by Ashley and Kaiden. She punched in a few commands and the tram began making its way towards the other side of the colony. As soon as the tram stopped, the group was besieged by geth once again. "Get into cover!" Shepard shouted as she began firing back at the geth.

* * *

Jango had managed to use his jetpack to get past the geth before the trio had destroyed them. He quickly used his wrist blades to dig into the tram on the side and hide. Once the group had used the tram and departed, fighting plenty of geth along the way, Jango used his jetpack to get over a wall and around the trio and the geth.

The group stationed at the beacon itself had never seen him coming. He had slowly made his way towards one of the geth. A well placed shot from his blaster pistol took out the first geth in sight. Jango whipped around and shot another one coming up behind him; his heads up display warning him of the danger. Then he saw the spike only a few yards away from him. On top of the spike appeared to be an impaled human. It reminded Jango of the time he went after the dark Jedi Komari Vosa. The spike retracted and let the husk of a human go. The thing looked at Jango before charging forward like many of the abominations he had found at Komari's lair. Jango merely lifted his blaster and aimed a few well-placed shots to the head of the creature before it went down.

Jango began inspecting the beacon but made sure not to get too close. Something felt off about the artifact in front of him. His curiosity was about to get the better of him before he heard. "Hold it right there." Damn, he hadn't noticed his radar.

* * *

Shepard was fed up with today. She had her commanding officer killed, was shot at by geth, and had to disable multiple bombs set up to destroy the colony. When she had come upon the scene of multiple dead bodies, she wasn't sure what to make. She was even less sure after she saw the blue clad soldier inspecting the artifact. "Hold it right there." She said as she trained her gun on him. The figure twirled his dual pistols before holstering them. "Something I can help you with?" The man said as he turned towards the trio. "Yah, what exactly are you doing here? Don't make any sudden movements or I'll shoot." The "T" shaped visor sent a chill down her spine but she stood her ground. "Don't make me ask again."

* * *

Jango had to keep himself from firing on the trio as he heard her question. "I was simply in the neighborhood when I saw the attack happening." Jango replied as he held his hands in the air. "Figured I might as well see what's happening." He saw the woman frown as she said. "And why were you eyeing my target?" He shrugged before saying. "Heard some turians talking about it, came to investigate it myself." His short and nonchalant answers were beginning to get on the woman's nerves. "We can't let you leave then. You may know about what happened to the colony and we need information." She said taking a step towards Jango. "Shepard, the beacon wasn't doing anything like that when we dug it up." He heard the woman's subordinate say as she pointed at the now glowing beacon. The woman Jango now knew as Shepard put a hand to her helmet before saying. "Normandy this is ground team we found the beacon, but there's someone else here, requesting pick up for the beacon and four."

The other subordinate began walking towards the beacon before saying. "Something must have activated it." When the male subordinate got too close to the beacon, it seemed to activate and draw him in. The leader of the group pushed her other subordinate aside and ran for her companion. Jango used this opportunity to try and simply walk away before the other female said. "You aren't going anywhere!" Jango whipped around before opening fire with his blaster and forcing her into cover. He then used his jetpack to gain distance from the trio and began flying towards the Slave I. "Damnit!" He heard the woman curse as he flew away before spotting an explosion. This didn't matter to Jango however and he continued towards his ship.

He had the ship take off before he truly relaxed. Back inside the Slave I he felt at least somewhat safe. He began perusing through the information the dead turian had given him. The Citadel, the war between humans and turians, and the Rachni were all interesting tad-bits of information. He needed to find work for now however. The most promising information he had come across was the Citadel. It was vastly populated with shadier parts to it; a perfect place for him to start. He punched in the coordinates to his nav-computer before using his hyper drive and taking off. He muttered to himself, "Time to make a name in this galaxy," before waiting for the ship to come out of hyper drive.

* * *

Shepard had just awoken from her induced coma and had talked to the doctor. Nothing was wrong with her physically but she had heard something might be wrong with her brainwaves. The nightmarish visions she'd received in her sleep hadn't helped. She had talked with various members of her previous mission to make sure they were alright. When she had talked with Anderson though, she told him about the mystery man at the beacon. The crew had done some digging but came up with nothing. It was like the man was a ghost. No records, no history, not even a name.

She sighed as she closed her codex. Looking up to see outside the cockpit was the Citadel; the center of civilization in the galaxy. It had a huge circular design. With five long flat rectangles placed in a circular pattern. The city was built on the rectangles. It was a pristine city but it still had its shadier parts. You could still walk down the wrong alley and find yourself mugged. The ship landed and she stepped off with a small part of the crew coming with her. "Time to talk to the Council." She muttered to herself as she began walking forward.

* * *

Jango had managed to land on the Citadel unnoticed; a harder task than he originally thought. He had to go to the shadier parts of the Citadel just to be able to land. He had just stepped out of the Slave I before a rather roguish looking group of aliens approached him. He had poured over the information on some of the species of the galaxy, and knew that three lightly armored batarians were approaching him.

"Human, this is my private dock. Get off now before you find yourself dead." The lead batarian said as he pointed a gun at Jango. "I don't think you want to fight me." Jango said as he held his hand by his blaster. "Oh I do." The batarian replied as he began squeezing the trigger. "As you wish," Jango replied before drawing his blaster faster than the batarian could fire. The laser had gone right through the batarian's shield and his head. The alien crumpled to the floor before his friend joined him. The last alien quivered as Jango raised his blaster at him. "Run along and let your other friends know not to come bother me." He said before holstering his blaster. The batarian simply nodded before running for his life. Jango sighed before he said. "Time to make my mark," and walked away from his ship.

* * *

Shadow - For anyone interested I did quite a bit of research on the technology difference between Star Wars and Mass Effect. The ships in Mass Effect are far and I do mean far slower than Star Wars. However for this story, I'm going to be saying the Slave I is either triple or quadruple the speed to even make it interesting.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2: A Purple Mask

Shadow - I know Jango's armor is made out of durasteel but for this fanfic we're just going with actual mandalorian ore Beskar Iron.

Break lines will either be used to signify a time skip, a switch between character perspectives, or both.

* * *

 **A Hunter Out of Place  
**

 _Chapter 2: A Purple Mask_

* * *

Shepard had just arrived at the Council Chamber. Her talk with Udina left a sour taste in her mouth. The council seemed unlikely to heed their warnings and Udina's behavior had irritated her to no end. Shepard had some time to settle however as she took a few detours before going to meet the Council. Her conversations with a few of the ambassadors for multiple species had been interesting. Learning quite a bit about the Elcor and she had even helped the one with the Asari consort. The Volus wasn't quite as charming but Shepard would be upset too if her ambassador had no say in almost any matters. She had met plenty of other people on her way here but it was of little import.

When she entered the tower however, Shepard noticed an argument going on between two turians. "Saren's hiding something! Give me more time. Stall them." A turian dressed in blue said as he stared at a rather intimidating looking turian dressed in black and red. "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus." Shepard recognized the intimidating one as Executor Pallin. The turian who oversaw most if not all of C-Sec. The security services for the Citadel. The Executor then walked off not caring much for the conversation anymore. The blue turian turned towards the commander and her two companions, Ashley and Kaiden. "Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren." Shepard gave the turian a questioning look before saying. "Sounds like you really want to bring him down." Garrus crossed his arms before replying. "I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way." It was an odd reason to want him brought down but it suited Shepard's needs well enough. "But he's a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence." Kaiden then cut in and said. "I think the Council is ready for us Commander." Shepard nodded her head before walking past Garrus. "Good luck Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you." Garrus said as she walked by.

As she approached the stand, Anderson was there waiting and said. "The hearing's already started. Come on." The duo made their way up to the podium before the Council as the Asari Councilor was saying. "The geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way." As Shepard looked around, she spotted multiple participants. This included the three councilors, Udina, and Saren himself through holo-communication. The Turian Councilor picked up where the Asari left off and said. "The investigation by the Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason." Shepard was then surprised by Udina's sudden backbone as he said. "A witness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood." Despite the ambassadors efforts the Salarian Councilor shot him down. "We've read the Eden Prime reports. Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof." Then Saren himself cut in. "I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend." Shepard sighed as she realized that the hearing was not going to go their way.

Shepard shook her head as she came out of the Council meeting. Things had definitely not gone their way. The ruling had found him innocent and now her Spectre status was in question. They did have a plan however. She left the tower in search of Harkins. Though that Salarian looked like he was up to something…

* * *

She had done possibly every option there was to do in the Citadel. Helped a general get his girl back, talk to a Salarian studying the Keepers, fought off assassins sent to kill her, and plenty else. She had finally made it to her destination however and met up with a man named Harkin who was a complete asshole. He had hit on her rather poorly at first and had not wanted to give Garrus's location to her though he had given her some useful information about Anderson being a failed Spectre. Now she was heading towards Dr. Mitchel's office in search of Garrus.

Upon arrive at her office; Shepard immediately spotted a few thugs harassing her, and Garrus sneaking around to the side. "That was smart doc. Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-." He didn't get the chance to finish as he spotted Shepard and immediately took the doctor hostage before shouting. "Who are you?" Shepard replied with. "Let her go!" Before the mercenary could do anything however, Garrus sprang out of cover and shot the mercenary in the head and sent him to the ground.

The other thugs immediately rolled into cover before firing on the commander. Shepard got into cover herself before leaning out and blasting through one of the thug's shield. The thug didn't take too many bullets before he dropped to the ground. Garrus shot another one in the head who immediately dropped as Kaiden and Ashley's combined efforts put another merc down. The final one tried to run out and shoot Ashely but was gunned down by the four quite easily.

She walked back over to the doc and Vakarian as he said. "Perfect timing, Shepard, gave me a clear shot of that bastard." Shepard however admonished him. "What were you thinking? You could've hit the hostage!" Garrus backpedaled as he replied. "There wasn't time to think! I just reacted. I didn't mean to- Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?" The woman gave a thankful reply. "No. I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you." Shepard turned to the doctor before saying. "I know those men threatened you but if you can tell us who they work for, we can protect you." The woman replied. "They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian." Shepard asked. "Does this have anything to do with Saren?" And Garrus replied, "I think it might. Dr. Michel, tell us what happened."

The doctor went on to explain how a quarian visited her a few days ago and that said quarian was shot. The doctor continued and told the group that the quarian was most likely on the run and she asked if she could trade information for safety with the Shadow Broker. She then goes on to explain how she told the quarian about Fist and that he's an agent for the Shadow Broker. Garrus then told them that in truth Fist now worked for Saren himself. "Shit!" Shepard cursed under her breath. "We need to find her." Garrus then cut in. "I'm coming with you. I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation. But I knew what was really going on. Saren's a traitor to the council, and a disgrace to my people!" Shepard thought on it a moment before replying. "Welcome aboard, Garrus."

Garrus went on to tell Shepard about a krogan looking to take down Fist at C-Sec and how they should recruit him. She ordered Ashley back to the Normandy as Garrus began leading Kaiden and Shepard to the krogan.

* * *

Jango had just finished a job he'd gotten from a local thug. It wasn't hard nor was it clean but it gotten him a sum of cash and at least a little rapport with some of the gangs in the area. Just a rival gang he had to go in and take out. Small time gang and it was simple. He had asked around for the gang's location before being approached by a punkish looking human. He had pulled a gun on him but Jango had been quicker. Pulling his blaster and shooting the kid's gun out of his hands. He had used the kid to figure out where the gang's hideout was before marching the kid in. There were a total of six of them but with the element of surprise he had gotten them down to two before they even knew what was happening. The last two went down easy since he used his jetpack to get the advantage. Jango had sent the kid packing with the words. "You should look for a new line of work."

Now Jango was simply heading towards his next destination. He had received a message via the new system he had installed into his helmet; the one that could sync up with the galaxy's media and such. All he had done was simply backwards engineer Nihlus's Omni-Tool which wasn't so hard when he figured out how to use it. It was then he bumped into a rather shaky looking person though person wasn't the right description. She was, or at least he assumed was a she based on the feminine figure, was covered head to toe in a suit. A black and purple design punctuated her purple mask that hid her face. "Excuse me." She replied as she tried to walk past him. "Hold it." He said as he spotted a few aliens following her. "There a reason you're being followed?" He asked as he eyed the three following her; a turian with what looked to be a salarian and a krogan. She turned to look behind her. "Followed?" She asked as she began looking past the blue clad bounty hunter. "Turn and don't look back." He said as he turned and walked beside her. "Do you have anything to get rid of them?" He asked as he spotted a branching alleyway. "I have a pistol if that will help." Jango sighed before replying. "It'll have to do. Turn into this alley on our left." It was technically just another hall of the Citadel but it was a generally unused one and a hall where they wouldn't be disturbed.

* * *

The three mercenaries turned the corner. They weren't the main group sent to get rid of the girl but they needed to keep track of her to make sure she didn't run. The lead turian heard a few gunshots before watching the salarian collapse to the floor. He bolted into cover as the krogan charged their target. "Where's the other one?" He asked himself while looking around. Just a few seconds later he felt something cold press up against his head. "You lose." A rather intimidating voice said before the turian's world went blank.

* * *

Jango looked up from the now dead turian as he eyeballed the krogan charging the girl. He held out his arm before the whipcord launched itself from his wrist and wrapped around the krogan's leg, causing the krogan to fall. "Amateurs." Jango said as he began firing on the krogan with his dual blasters. The krogan immediately turned before being pelted by blaster fire. The krogan's shield did nothing to help as Jango's blasters went right through it. The krogan charged and was able to take a few blasters rounds due to his tough hide and armor. Under Jango's constant assault the krogan's armor and hide eventually gave way and he fell to the ground dead just mere feet in front of the mandalorian.

"Now that they're out of the way, why were they tracking you?" Jango said as he turned to the purple quarian. If there was anything Jango figured out by now, it was that she had something important enough that someone sent mercenaries to track her. "It's important information on the geth and Saren. I was trying to trade the information away so I could go into hiding. I was supposed to meet a man named Fist who works for the Shadow Broker." Tali looked the mandalorian up and down before asking. "You look like you can handle yourself. Could you please help me?" Jango sat there for a moment in thought before saying. "I'll help but I'm going to need compensation at the end of this." She searched her pockets and omni-tool for any credits before replying. "I have a few hundred credits I can give you. Is that enough?" In all honesty it wasn't but something about the girl reminded him of Boba, sometimes a little too naïve plus trusting, and in need of his help. He hadn't thought about Boba too much since he arrived here but the thought of his clone son compelled him to help. "That's enough. Let's get moving towards this meeting point." She gave a thankful nod before leading him towards the meeting. "I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Who are you?" She asked as they walked. "Jango Fett."

* * *

Shepard had stopped off and helped the krogan Wrex with C-Sec security before making her way back towards Fist's club. She had told Kaiden to sit this one out so it was her, Garrus, and Wrex. "Fist is probably ready for us. This'll be a good fight." Wrex said as they walked up to the door. "We should be careful Shepard." Garrus said as the door opened. "Take cover!" Shepard called out as bullets flew past their heads. She equipped the sniper on her back and immediately took one of the thugs out. Though there were still plenty left in the room. Garrus shot one across the room, as Wrex tackled one of the bartenders to the ground and smashed his skull in with his foot, before charging the krogan bouncer. Shepard shot another bartender as Garrus pierced the skull of a thug sneaking up behind her. Wrex had already thrown a right hook into the bouncer's face and caused him to stumble back, before unleashing hell with his shotgun and sent the bouncer to the ground, before finally finishing the krogan with another shotgun round to the face.

The trio headed further into the back of the bar before encountering a few workers who drew weapons on them. "Stop right there, don't come any closer!" Garrus took one look at them before saying. "Warehouse workers. All the real guards must be dead." Another scared looking worker shouted. "Stay back or we'll shoot!" Shepard simply looked at the man before replying. "This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work." The workers almost immediately agreed with her before filing past them and out of the bar.

When they finally got back into Fist's private office, they were greeted by Fist and two automated turrets. "Why do I have to do everything myself? Time to die, little soldiers!" Fist shouted as he opened fire on the trio. The group simply opened fire on one of the stationary turrets first. They used their combined firepower to wipe out the turret. Wrex then drew the attention of Fist as Garrus and Shepard took out the other turret without too much trouble. Fist fell easily when the combined assault of all three members fell upon him. "Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!" Shepard didn't have time for his antics and held a gun to his head before demanding. "Where's the quarian?" The man quickly replied. "She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" Wrex smirked as he said. "He's no use to you now. Let me kill him." The man immediately backpedaled as he said. "Wait, wait! I don't know where the quarian is but I know where you can find her. The quarian isn't here said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself." Wrex immediately cut in and said. "Face to face? Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent." Shepard lowered her gun as Fist stood up. "Nobody meets the Shadow Broker, ever. Even I don't know his true identity but she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her." Shepard grabbed the man by the collar before demanding. "Give me the location, now." The man immediately caved as he said. "Here on the Wards, the back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry." Wrex then pulled out his shotgun and shot the man followed by Garrus pointing his gun at Wrex and saying. "Drop the gun now!"

Shepard had a quick talk with why he should never pull a stunt like that again but the trio had more pressing matters. The group had quickly made their way to where the quarian was supposed to meet the assassins. They had killed a few assassins themselves on the way to the meeting point. Upon arriving at the area however the trio discovered just dead bodies. The quarian was currently thanking a blue clad mercenary that Shepard recognized. "You, stop right there!" Shepard demanded as she aimed at the bounty hunter.

* * *

Jango had lagged behind and told her to go ahead and start the meeting without him. He had used his jetpack to lift himself onto the tubing above. He grabbed on and held himself in place as he looked down on the quarian talking to a turian. "Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" The turian was already getting too grabby as he said. "They'll be here. Where's the evidence?" She immediately hit his hand away before saying. "No way. The deal's off." That was when two salarians came out from behind cover holding guns. The quarian had more tricks than she had told the bounty hunter however and threw what looked like a grenade at the duo which blew them back.

Jango immediately descended on the two downed salarians and shot each in the head with his blasters. The turian turned on him however and managed to get a few rounds on the mandalorian. Jango's armor was top of the line however and kept him safe though it still hurt like a bitch. He immediately turned before unleashing the flamethrower hidden in his gauntlet. Only a few second later and the turian was burning to a crisp.

"You, stop right there!" The bounty hunter heard as he turned towards a familiar face. "You again? You should stay out of my way." He said as he aimed his blaster at her. "Put down your weapon and release the quarian." She demanded as her companions aimed at the bounty hunter. "Release? She's under my protection." He said still aiming at the trio. "We should just take him out now Shepard." Wrex said in an eager tone. Shepard looked over at the quarian before saying. "Are you hurt? He didn't hurt you did he?" The quarian gave her an inquisitive look before saying. "I hired him to help me. Why would he hurt me?" This caused Shepard to go silent for a moment before she put her weapon away. "I think we're all misinformed here. Put away your weapons." Garrus and Wrex begrudgingly put away their weapons as Jango twirled his blaster before putting it away.

"Who are you?" Tali asked as she stared at her new allies. Shepard pointed to herself before saying. "My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor." This was the opportunity Tali had been looking for. "Can I get guaranteed safety for information on Saren?" Shepard nodded her head and Tali replied. "Good, I'll give you the information but not here. We need to go somewhere safe." Garrus looked at Shepard before saying. "The ambassador's office. It's safe there. He'll want to see this anyway." Jango sighed as the five of them began walking towards the Presidium.

* * *

The first thing Shepard heard as she walked in was. "You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-" He turned to look at the quarian. "Who is this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?" He then turned towards Jango. "And this man doesn't look like someone we can trust." Shepard stood at attention as she replied. "I'm making your day, Ambassador. She has information linking Saren to the geth and this is her guardian." Jango simply nodded at the man and let Udina say. "Really? Maybe you better start at the beginning, Miss…?" Tali pointed at herself before saying. "My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." Udina examined her before continuing. "We don't see man quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" To which Tali replied. "I was on my Pilgrimage, my right of passage into adulthood."

Jango listened to Tali tell Shepard about Pilgrimages and how they were the right of passage for her people. How she could only return home after she had something of value and could prove her usefulness.

Then she moved on to the part where she had tracked down geth and removed one of their memory cores which Anderson thought was impossible due to geth frying their memory cores. To this Tali responded. "My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful, and lucky enough small caches of data can sometimes be saved." She then began playing an audio recording. Saren's voice began playing. "Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." The audio recording continued and the group could hear a woman. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

The group then went on to talk about what exactly Reapers are. They were some kind of ancient hyper evolved race of droids that had wiped out an ancient civilization apparently. Apparently that beacon on Eden Prime had given the Commander some vision of their destruction. "I know that voice actually. I have a recording of him." Jango said as he played a video recording of Nihlus being shot by Saren in the back. "How did you get that recording?" Anderson demanded but Jango simply shrugged his shoulders before saying. "I simply happened to be there." After their discussion, Wrex turned to Tali and said. "What do we do about the quarian?" She gave an indignant harrumph before replying. "My name is Tali." Garrus however was staring at Jango and said. "I think we should be focusing on him instead." Jango simply looked back at the turian before saying. "Don't try anything." Shepard sat in thought for a moment before saying. "They should join my crew." Tali jumped at the chance but Jango raised his eyebrow under his helmet. "And what exactly is in it for me?" Tali turned to him before saying. "You said you're a bounty hunter correct?" Jango nodded his head as she continued. "Well Saren is a threat to the entire galaxy and I'm sure there's quite the reward for capturing him." Jango sat in thought for a moment before saying. "Fine but I'm taking my own ship." Shepard nodded but Wrex replied. "I don't trust him Shepard. We know next to nothing about him." Shepard glanced at Wrex before saying. "We need all the help we can get for this mission. Come on, let's get this information to the Council."

* * *

Shepard had said that but she made basically every single stop possible on the way there, helping anyone who simply asked. It was amazing she got anything done really. She eventually made her way to the Tower however and met Anderson there. Anderson, Udina, and herself made their way towards the podium as the rest of the group stayed behind.

The Council were currently listening to the two recordings of Saren's betrayal. At the end of the recording Udina pointed towards the Council and said. "You wanted proof. There it is." The Turian Councilor shook his head as he said. "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." The Asari then cut in and said. "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia." Shepard looked towards the Asari before asking. "Who's she?" The Councilor quickly replied. "Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren." The Salarian cut in and said. "I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?" Captain Anderson replied with. "Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core. The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished." Shepard then picked up. "The geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return." Anderson then said. "We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime."

The Salarian replied with. "Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Shepard was growing impatient. Did it matter exactly what it was? "Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough." The Turian Councilor was skeptical. "Listen to what you're saying! Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!" Shepard was afraid of this. She knew the Council was close minded but she hoped to convince them. "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again." The Asari went to rebuke her. "This is different. You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why." The Salarian Councilor cut in. "The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will." The Commander stared down the Council as she replied. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!" The Turian calmly replied with. "Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position." Udina balled his fist in front of him as he replied. "That's not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!" The Salarian just gave him an inquisitive look as he replied. "A fleet cannot track down one man." To which Udina replied indignantly. "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies." The Turian gave a curt reply. "Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"

The meeting went on for some time. However the Council decided to not send their forces in and instead elect Shepard to become a new Spectre and assigned her with hunting down the rogue agent Saren.

"Commander Shepard – step forward." Shepard looked towards Anderson and he nodded towards her. She stepped forward as multiple parties looked on. The Asari Councilor began. "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." The Salarian continued for her. "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." The Asari continued once again. "Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." The Turian finally cut in as he said. "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." The Asari finished with. "You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species." Shepard stood at attention as she replied. "I'm honored, Councilor."

The Councilors gave her first mission to hunt down Saren hiding in the Traverse. With that done the meeting was adjourned. She turned towards Udina who said. "We have a lot of work to do. We're going to need a crew, a ship, supplie-" He was cut off by Anderson however who told her about the special requisitions officer who she should speak to for supplies. Udina and Anderson walked off together to set up the mission for her.

* * *

Jango had been listening in. The Traverse was like the Outer-Rim of his galaxy. Where there weren't as many law enforcement officers and it was mostly pirates and raiders. Whatever law that was out there was self-law. Protect yourself or be subjected to other wills. Jango needed to go and prepare. He had scraped the credits together that he needed and he was going to need to talk to the Commander later after he got everything together. Jango left the Tower and began making his preparations.

* * *

Shepard had spent the past few hours helping random strangers on the Citadel again but eventually made her way to where the Normandy was docked. Upon arriving both Anderson and Udina were waiting for her. Udina told Shepard. "I've got big news for you, Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." Anderson continued for Udina. "She's quick and quiet and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander." Shepard nodded towards Anderson before replying. "I'll take good care of her sir." To which Anderson replied. "I know you will, Commander."

Shepard spent the next few minutes discussing why he was stepping down and what had happened when he tried to become a Spectre. She got the brief version that Saren had screwed Anderson on his mission to become a Spectre. Udina and Anderson told Shepard about Feros and Noveria. She had her first few locations to finding Saren. She was also told of Matriarch Benezia's daughter who was somewhere in the Artemis Tau cluster. Shepard thought on it a moment before saying. "I'll need some time to decide which target is first. For now, I need to get my crew on board." Udina and Anderson nodded before heading off. She watched as Garrus, Wrex, Kaiden, and Ashley stepped on board. Then she spotted the bounty hunter walking towards her. "Shepard, I'll be taking my own ship. I just need to keep in contact with your pilot so I'll need his communication link." He said as he stopped in front of her. "We have one of the fastest ships in the galaxy. You sure you don't want to tag along?" Jango just shook his head as he replied. "I prefer my ship. Just send me the coordinates for wherever we're going." She shrugged before giving the com-link to Joker and the coordinates to their next destination. Shepard then went inside her ship and prepared it for takeoff.

* * *

Jango had prepared his ship. He had all the weapons and supplies he needed for now including some extra parts if he needed to make repairs. He was about to walk back to his ship after talking with Shepard when he was cut off by Tali. "I'm coming with you." He tilted his helmet to the side as he asked. "You sure? They have one of the fastest ships in the galaxy." Tali simply nodded her head. "You helped me when I needed it and since we're on this mission together I'll help you." Jango thought on it a moment before nodding his head. "Fine, follow me." She nodded happily as she followed Jango.

They were at the Slave I soon enough and Tali commented. "That's an odd design for a ship. Who built it?" Jango shrugged and said. "Don't know, got it off some people who tried to kill me." In truth he knew who had made it but he couldn't tell her he was from an entirely different galaxy. "I can't wait to have a look at it." Tali said as Jango lowered the ramp and stepped inside. He was soon behind the controls and Tali took a seat next to him. "This doesn't look like any ship I've ever seen." Jango simply nodded before replying. "Didn't think it would." He then piloted the ship away from the Citadel and began following the Normandy.

* * *

Shadow – Hey guys thanks for reading! I don't have a set schedule yet so I'll be trying to figure that out. Sorry for the slight delay in this chapter but I'm kind of busy and this was a longer chapter. After a few weeks, I should have more time to write. I'll probably be updating my other story too in the future.


	4. Chapter 3: Lone Wolf

_Shadow - Hey people, sorry about the delay on this chapter but I've just had some family problems to deal with. I'll be updating more frequently hopefully. Starting next week I'll have tons of time to update or at least I should._

 _I am unsure of how long Jango has been a bounty hunter. It shows his age but I can't find a reliable source for determining how long he has actually been a bounty hunter. Apologies if I got it wrong._

 _Also for future reference. Thoughts and speech will be displayed as._

"Speech"

 _"Thoughts"_

 _Enjoy the reading! **  
**_

* * *

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 3: Lone Wolf_

* * *

Jango was unimpressed with the way Shepard was currently handling her assignment. She had ignored the mission objectives so far to stop off at every other planet on some inane mission to help some random person or another. Jango was rather fed up with all of it as he piloted his ship behind the Normandy. The two ships were currently heading towards a planet to go see what happened to a lost platoon or something.

"Can I please look at your ships workings more please?" Tali begged as he simply sighed. "I've already said no and it's going to stay no." He replied with a rather tired voice. This had been going on for a while now and she refused to let up. She had stated something along the lines of this being possibly the most advanced ship in the galaxy. He had seen how slow their ships were to his and the tech level most of them had and he had to agree. Didn't mean he was going to let her tear apart his ship anytime soon however. She knew the basics but he wasn't going to let her go digging through information on his home quite yet.

"Fine! Then tell me something about yourself then." Jango tensed up for a second before relaxing and replying. "What do you want to know?" He wasn't really up for thinking about back home quite yet as he tried to put Boba to the back of his mind for now. He didn't need that distraction while he was working. "What planet are you from?" It was a simple question from the quarian but he didn't really want to answer. "None of your business." He replied monotonously as he glared at the Normandy. "Well how abou-" She was cut off however when Jango attempted to open communication with the Normandy.

After a few seconds of beeping, Joker eventually answered and said. "Hello blue and broody, how are you this fine day?" Jango wasn't currently using his helmet so he simply tapped a button on his console to reply. "I'm going to go to the mission area. You can stay here if you like." This almost immediately got a reply from the brittle-boned pilot. "Shepard said we shou-" Before he could finished however, Jango simply turned off the link before turning his ship around. He had the coordinates for the next planet he planned to go to but he didn't know which one to go to first.

"You realize Shepard is going to be furious with you?" Tali questioned as he powered up his hyper drive. "I know." Was his simply reply as he jumped to insane speeds. Tali sat in her seat uncomfortably and constantly shifted. "So, is there a reason you don't want to tell me about yourself?" She asked turning towards Jango. The mandalorian turned his head to her and said. "It's just private is all. If you'd ask a not so invasive question, I'd answer." Tali sat in thought for a moment before replying. "So how long have you been a bounty hunter?" That was a tougher question than she realized. Jango hadn't kept count that much. It reminded him of his clan's destruction too and his revenge afterwards. He became a bounty hunter after that and was damn good at it too. "Between five to ten years." He eventually replied as the ship steadily moved forward.

Tali searched for something to talk about and eventually said. "Do you… Enjoy your work?" Jango sat silent for a moment before saying. "I'm damn good at it." Tali shook her head before replying. "But do you enjoy it?" Jango sat on that question for a moment before saying. "It's alright. It pays well and I can't say it's a boring job." She nodded her head in reply. They sat in silence like that for a while before Jango finally spoke up. "So where're you from?" Her face lit up as she said. "I'm from the quarian fleet called the Flotilla."

Jango had read up on the Flotilla and her species. He had read up on most of the Normandy's crew since he was to be working with them. "I hear you were on pilgrimage; hope that works out." Tali smiled under her mask but he couldn't see a thing. "Thanks, if we can bring Saren down I'd say I've done my part for the quarian race." Jango nodded his head as they began to descend out of hyper speeds.

Jango had marked the planet Therum as his first objective. He knew he'd have hell to pay once it was all over but Jango knew they couldn't just help every passerby and stop Saren. They needed to prioritize their mission above other petty tasks. He had been reading up on the planet as he had been talking to Tali. "So what can we expect?" Tali asked as he scanned over the files he had again. "It's a planet that's mostly rocks and lava." It reminded Jango of the planet Mustafar. "Great, at least my suit should keep me cool." Tali commented as they began to descend into the planet's atmosphere.

As soon as Jango got within range, he began picking up signals. Rather strange signals coming from what looked like an underground complex. "There." He pointed out to Tali who turned her head to the radar. His mission here was to rescue a doctor T'Soni. She had some connections with Saren's ally and needed to be brought in. "I'm going to need you to stay with the ship when we land." Tali immediately went to argue. "But I ca-." Jango cut her off and pointed his finger at her. "No, your suits too vulnerable out there. I know you can handle yourself but this isn't street thugs. These are fully active droids with a lot of firepower. I may need you for support or at least a pick up. Understand?" Tali nodded her head silently as she looked on. Jango sighed before saying. "You can look at some of the ships workings in return." She looked at him ecstatically before he continued. "You can't look into any of the files I have however and only look into the non-essential systems of the ship. I need her ready to go in case things go south." She quickly nodded as the ship neared their destination.

The Slave I immediately came under fire from what looked to be a geth ship. "Shit." Jango muttered to himself as he began evasive maneuvers. "We're definitely in the right place." He said as he spun out of the bullet storm from the geth ship. It immediately became clear that Jango's ship outclassed there's as he flipped around and began to fire back. His ships shields held but the geth ship immediately began being torn to shreds. Jango launched a proton torpedo and a few seconds later the geth ship exploded.

Tali looked over at the radar before saying. "Look out they have anti-air artillery." Jango checked himself before dodging out of the way of incoming projectiles. His ship began being pelted by geth weapons but his shield held. He turned his ship around and zeroed in on the artillery, then began launching a multitude of lasers at the enemy which immediately began wiping them out. The geth scrambled away and into cover as he fired and the artillery soon became a smoking heap of rubbish.

The two were nearing the location of the strange readings. Jango spotted an area to land and said. "There, I'm gonna put us down there." Tali nodded as he slowed the Slave I down and landed. They were un-accosted for now but he needed to work fast. Jango stepped off ramp of the Slave I fully armed and looked around. Nothing but rocks and lava as far as the eye could see.

"Tali take off with the ship and be ready to pick me up!" He shouted up the ramp as he continued forward. He had taken the time to show her the basics of flying the ship and she could probably land it. Now he just needed to find the asari. He stepped in between two rather large rocks as he saw multiple rocks ahead positioned in convenient places for cover. That's when his radar picked up enemy geth inbound. He leaned back as a rocket flew past his head and destroyed some of the rocks behind him. He was currently in a valley like area so the geth were forced to route themselves in front of him. He turned to the geth before letting off a few blaster bolts from his blaster. Said geth instantly went down as its head was just a smoldering body without a head.

The second geth was a trooper which was equally dispatched with ease. The third however managed to actually hit Jango's armor. The chest piece held but it still stung like a bitch as he went back into cover. Jango cursed to himself as he rolled out of cover and shot the geth multiple times before it collapsed. Jango pressed on and was surprised by a geth that had been lying in wait. It had sat perfectly motionless until he had walked up on it and the geth sprinted out of cover to take him down with its inhuman strength. Jango simply extended his wrist blades and first cut up the geth's head before moving on to its left arm. Its arm was completely severed and Jango pulled out his pistol before finishing it off.

He moved forward into an area that looked like it was hit by a meteor. There were quite a few geth stationed here and he pulled back. He assessed the situation and spotted quite a few geth troopers and rocket troopers in cover. Jango pulled out his DC-15x sniper rifle he had stored in the ship. He leaned out of cover before picking off a geth rocket trooper. He had taken out another two before the geth knew what exactly was happening. They began taking cover and he couldn't get a clear shot.

He pressed a button on the side of his helmet as he said. "Tali you there?" He only waited a few seconds before she replied. "Yes what do you need?" Jango turned the corner and began punching in coordinates into his gauntlet. "You see the coordinates I just sent?" Tali confirmed with a simple. "Yes." He turned away from the geth as he began speaking. "I assume you see the button in between the communications and piloting?" Again she confirmed with a simple yes. "I need you to punch in the coordinates above that button and then press said button. You need to get closer to the coordinates first within a mile radius if you can." He only had to wait for around thirty seconds before his ship passed over head and dropped the cargo. What dropped was a Seismic Charge and a few moments later the entire field went up in flame. He waited a few more seconds before popping out of cover.

It only took him about five minutes to finish off whatever geth remained in the area before moving on over a small hill. He spotted a few tall towers probably housing energy of some kind. There was a bridge that looked like it went to a hole that lead underground. It was currently closed however and for a second he thought it was almost too easy. Then he saw a few figures climbing on the walls.

They turned out to be some kind of geth he hadn't encountered yet. They launched themselves towards him and fired some kind of energy weapon that barely missed. He rolled into cover as one leapt around behind him. He immediately turned and fired. The two seemed to hit each other and the geth crumbled. He felt a searing heat but his armor was made of the toughest stuff around. It held strong for now but he knew he couldn't take too many of those. That's when a few geth troopers came out of cover a distance away from him.

Then some giant monstrosity fell out of the sky before sprouting four long legs and a head. It stood far taller than Fett and fired some large but slow energy weapon which tore his cover to pieces. **(He would later learn this was a Geth armature)** "That won't stop me." He said to himself as he fired on a few of the incoming troopers. He used his jetpack to ascend and fire on a few of the jumpy geth. He would later learn they were called Geth Stalkers. It took him a while of dodging and firing but after he took out the stalkers the troopers were a piece of cake.

Now he had to deal with the giant fucker blocking his way. He thought to use his rocket attached to his jetpack but the thing had a kinetic barrier. Jango glared at the thing before pulling out his sniper. He fired a few rounds that the giant geth didn't like and so it fired back. Jango was far too agile however and used his jetpack to get out of the way. Using the combination of his sniper and jetpack he eventually whittled it down to a damaged state. Just when he thought he had it though, it activated some kind of self-destruct program, and exploded. Luckily Jango had been keeping his distance but he could feel the heat even from this distance.

Jango walked up the ramp to the hole before opening the rather large doors. He stretched a bit as he entered trying to shake some of the pain out of his body. He ran into the hole and found it was quite deep and went down a ways. It was ramped however so he simply walked down. Towards the bottom however he had to dispatch a geth trooper that had set up in front of him. The tunnel opened up into a large chamber with scaffolding and an elevator. At the end of the chamber he spotted a blue shield. He had to take out a few more geth but in close quarters they stood no chance against his dual blasters.

Jango stepped on the elevator before taking it down. Once he stepped off, he rolled into cover, as a group of geth drones began firing at him. Luckily they weren't all that intelligent and simply floated in the same position as he quickly took them down. It was apparent the geth were far too reliant on these shields because his blasters immediately destroyed them. He moved on to another elevator and took it down again. The elevator broke down part of the way towards the bottom and Jango had to use his jetpack to drop below onto some broken down scaffolding.

He walked downwards towards another blue field which looked like it had a person on the other side. A person appeared to be trapped in a small bubble on the other side of the field. "Uh… Hello? Could somebody help me? Please?" Came the rather distressed tone of a blue asari. Jango approached as she said. "Can you hear me out there? I'm trapped and I need help!" Jango simply replied. "You Liara T'Soni?" He wasn't about to waste his time rescuing someone when he had a mission if he didn't need to. "Thank the Goddess! Yes, I am Liara T'Soni. I did not think anyone would come looking for me."

Jango simply listened as she continued. "Listen. This thing I am in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?" Jango was tempted to ask how she trapped herself but right now he had a mission to complete. "Any suggestions on how I can help?" He questioned as he checked to make sure they were alone. "There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here." Jango looked past her and saw that the only control panel was behind the field. "Great." He muttered to himself as he turned to look back at a rather large piece of machinery. It was apparent that it was supposed to be a drill of some kind but he had no clue how to activate it.

"Be careful. There is a krogan with the geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier." Jango nodded that he heard her before heading down a ramp to the ground floor of the cavern. He only needed to take out a few more geth troopers before he approached the drill itself. It looked like the controls were locked for now. He began hacking the machine's control panel, with his advanced tech and backwards engineered omni-tool, he eventually broke the machines fire walls before starting the drill. It turned out to be a kind of laser drill that started up and destroyed the area underneath where the asari was being held.

A giant hole was now easy access to him as walked down and below the asari. He stepped on a platform that was attached to a giant cylinder pole in the middle. He raised himself up to Liara's level before making his way towards Liara.

"How… How did you get in here? I didn't think there was any way past the barrier!" Jango shrugged before saying. "There was a mining laser that I used to blast a hole below you." Liara let out a sigh of relief as she said. "Yes, of course, that makes sense. Please… get me out of here before more geth arrive. That button over there should shut down this containment field." Jango nodded before accessing a holographic terminal and deactivating the field holding Liara in place. She fell but caught herself before turning around. "There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on!" The two walked back to the elevator, to the center of the cylinder, and what Jango now knew as a tower.

Jango turned back towards Liara as she said. "I—I still cannot believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia's involved?" Jango shrugged before saying. "There's a turian named Saren looking for some Conduit. You're an expert so there you have it." Liara gave him a question look before saying. "The Conduit? But I don't know-" There was the sound of an explosion that cut her off. "Shit." Jango cursed as he looked up. "These ruins aren't stable. That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event. We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in!" Liara said in a panicked tone.

She walked over to a terminal in the center of the elevator and began pressing a few buttons. Jango pressed a button on his helmet again. "Tali, come in. I'm going to need pick up for two relatively quick." He heard Tali respond. "Sure thing Jango. I'll be at the exit before you leave. This thing really is a work of ar-" Jango cut off communications as he turned to Liara. The elevator ascended quite a few floors and eventually stopped. The fields were deactivated now and he spotted a krogan accompanied by three geth approaching the duo.

The krogan smiled as he said. "Surrender, or don't. That would be more fun." Jango began pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet as he said. "I don't have time for you." The missile on his jetpack shot out and flew towards the group. Two of the geth were blown apart shields and all as the krogan stumbled back and the other geth went flying. The lone geth didn't have any time to get up before a few blaster bolts put it down for good. Jango used his jetpack to get off the ground as the krogan reared back and began firing.

The krogan's natural armor plus its non-natural armor proved to be a problem. He had already drilled five bolts into him and he merely laughed. The shotgun wasn't accurate to hit Fett at this range however and he continued to pour into the krogan until his armor melted. The krogan roared before charging forward to cover the distance. Jango flew over his head before launching his whipcord and grabbing the krogan's leg. He tripped up the krogan and caused him to fall. Jango then descended and landed on the krogan as said krogan flipped around. Jango knocked the shotgun from his hands as the krogan roared and tried to punch him. Jango merely pointed his gauntlet at the krogan before burning the krogan's face. After ten seconds of consecutive burning, the krogan finally lie dead. "Tough bastard but not tough enough."

The two headed back towards the tunnel to the surface but the entire cavern began to cave in. "Run for it!" Jango shouted as the two ran up the tunnel and towards the surface. The two struggled up the tunnel as it began collapsing but the Slave I was parked right outside of the tunnel's exit. Jango breathed out a sigh of relief as he said. "Get aboard the ship Liara. I can explain everything else there." Liara simply nodded as the two made it up the ramp. The ship then took off as the entire area was then covered in lava.

Only a few minutes later he heard the sound of someone trying to get ahold of him. Now back in the pilot's seat. Jango opened communications to a rather angry Commander Shepard. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

* * *

Commander Shepard was understandably upset with Jango. Once Joker had relayed that Jango had set out on his own, Shepard had postponed helping track down lost members of the Alliance. Instead turning around and setting after Jango's ship herself. As it turned out however, Jango's ship was extremely fast and could jump from any location not just the Relays. So they had arrived sometime after he had.

To the crew's surprise they had flown into a slaughter. Aerial surveillance revealed Jango had somehow taken down a geth ship, taken out an encampment, and destroyed a good number of geth to get to his objective. Joker had spotted the Slave I flying off and Shepard had opened communications with the bounty hunter.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Were her first words to him and he replied rather calmly. "Doing our actual assignment, Commander." His matter-of-fact tone annoyed her and she replied. "On your own, with no support, and without my permission?!" An annoyed tone crept into the mandalorian's voice as he replied. "Commander, this is my job. I completed the mission and I am not a part of your crew. I am simply working with you." She let out an annoyed sigh as she said. "Get on the Normandy. We need to report to the Council." Jango simply replied. "As you wish."

* * *

The two ships had landed elsewhere on the planet and Jango boarded the Normandy. Liara and Tali followed him as he locked his ship up; couldn't have any curious members of the Normandy snooping around. The trio made their way to the communications room which was a circular room that had eight chairs. A krogan that Jango recognized by the name of Wrex, Garrus, Tali, two humans named Ashley and Kaiden, and Liara herself were seated. Shepard stood at one end of the circle so Jango stood at the other end.

"Looks like Blue and Uptight beat you to the punch, eh Commander?" Joker said over the intercom as everyone got comfortable. "Joker, please stow it for now." Shepard replied neutrally as she waited for everyone to get situated. "Aye, aye Commander." Joker then went silent for the time being.

Liara turned to Jango before saying. "Thank you for saving my life back there. And not just from the volcano, those geth would have killed me, or dragged me off to Saren." Jango simply nodded his head towards her as Ashley said. "Speaking of, why did you just go off on your own like that? Could've gotten yourself killed!" Jango turned towards the woman before replying. "Shepard was busy so I completed the mission. I knew I could and I did. What's the problem?" Shepard cut in and said. "The problem is that we have to work as a team. We need to work together to stop Saren, not go off on our own." Jango sighed before replying. "I will work with you but you keep running off to do mindless tasks. We have a mission and it needs to take priority."

Kaiden cut the conversation short by saying. "Listen, we can talk about that later." He turned towards Liara before continuing. "What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?" Liara shifted in her chair before replying. "Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them." Jango knew little about the Protheans other than they were an advanced alien race that died fifty thousand years ago. "I do need to read up on that." He muttered to himself as Shepard asked. "How old are you, exactly?" Liara looked a bit downward as she replied. "I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six."

Ashley cut in and said. "Damn, I hope I look that good at your age." Liara nodded before replying. "A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves." Jango thought to himself. _"Sure acts like she's barely in her twenties with that self-entitlement."_ She continued to say. "Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

Shepard went on to ask. "Did your research turn up anything interesting?" Liara eagerly replied. "What is interesting is what I did not turn up. There is remarkably little archaeological evidence of the Protheans and even less that might explain why they disappeared." "Almost seems like someone is covering their tracks." Jango muttered as Liara nodded to him. "It does seem that way. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them.

Shepard went on to ask how she even knew about that and Liara replied of how she tracked down every scrap of information she could find for the last fifty years. Jango thought it was admirable but a little too centered on just that. A little too obsessed if you will. She explained that every great civilization rose up on the corpse of those before them before seemingly vanishing.

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines, The Reapers." Shepard eventually said to try and answer some of Liara's questions. Liara was skeptical of her at first. "The— The Reapers?" But I have never heard of—How do you know this. What evidence do you have?" Shepard went on to explain. "There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

Liara then went on to say how Prothean beacons were not meant to interact with human physiology and how Shepard must have quite the will to not be mentally broken. "So that's what that whole sordid affair was about." Jango said to himself. The two eventually "melded minds" which basically meant they somehow interacted with each other's memories. Liara tried to sort out all she could but she eventually gave up. Shepard commented on how it was all still blurry but a bit more understandable now.

Now Liara said she needed to lie down and was somewhat exhausted. Shepard dismissed everyone in the room except Jango seeing as how he basically carried out the mission solo. "Commander, the Council wants a status report." Joker said over the intercom. Shepard nodded before saying. "Patch 'em through." Joker replied. "Setting up the link now, Commander."

Three Councilors now holographically stood before the Commander and Jango. "We've received your report, Commander. I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy." The Asari Councilor said as greetings before the Turian cut in. "I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?" Shepard replied. "Liara's on our side. The geth were trying to kill her." Before the conversation continued the Salarian said. "Who is this?" Shepard turned to the bounty hunter before saying. "This is Jango Fett. He's the one who went in solo." The Salarian nodded as the Turian reprimanded. "You do realize you could have compromised the entire mission?" Jango crossed his arms before saying. "Should've hurried up then, time is not on our side." The Turian glared at the bounty hunter as he said. "Just make sure to remember we, and Shepard in extension, are in charge." The bounty hunter shrugged before letting them continue.

"Benezia would never let Saren kill her daughter." The Asari said in disbelief. "Maybe she doesn't know." The Salarian offered before the Turian replied. "Or maybe we don't know her; we never expected she could become a traitor." The Salarian was optimistic. "At least the mission was a success." The Turian cut in and said. "Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?" Shepard turned towards Jango who replied. "Yes it was. Geth were everywhere and I'm not taking chances."

The Salarian nodded. "Of course, the mission must always take priority." The asari then said. "Jango Fett, you may leave." Fett merely nodded towards the Councilors before departing.

* * *

"Can we trust him Commander?" The Turian questioned as the Asari nodded and said. "He does seem like a loose cannon." Shepard nodded to the Councilors before saying. "I'll rein him in." The Salarian replied. "We're counting on you Shepard. Don't let him ruin this mission." The Asari then cut in and said. "Good luck, Commander. Remember we're all counting on you." The Councilors then flickered and faded from view as they terminated the transmission. Shepard sighed before heading out of the room.

"Jango into the meeting room please." She said as she walked back in. Jango walked into the room behind her as she said. "Jango, we have to work together on this. You have to follow my orders and not be a lone wolf on this." Jango sighed before replying. "I'll play nice but you have to focus on the mission. I'll help out here and there but for the most part we need to do the mission as soon as possible." Shepard nodded before saying. "Alright, it's a deal then?" Jango nodded before saying. "Deal."

* * *

 _Shadow - Thanks for reading people! I'm having a load of fun writing this and there's plenty more to come. Feedback is appreciated and as usual I'll try to update more from now on. Thanks for reading!_


	5. Chapter 4: The Brave Blue Warrior

Shadow – Hey there readers, hope you've been enjoying the story so far.

I made this chapter in haste so there's probably more errors than usual, sorry about that.

For Jango Fett's background I'll be using some information that may not necessarily be 100% accurate. I'm trying my best to stay true to Jango's character but even with the EU there are a lot of blank spaces to fill. 

I saw a review that mentioned the layout for speech and such. I'll try implementing it next chapter and see how it goes. I only saw the review after I was halfway through with this one. Apologies.

Sorry about the delay for this chapter but it turned into a longer chapter than I thought it would. 

Also an update on events in the future, I'm going to be out of town for a week so I won't post during that time. I will however work on the stories still. I should be able to finish another chapter before I leave however. I will be posting two chapters as a thank you for your patience upon my return home.

 _Texts:_

" _Thoughts"_

"Speech"

" **Bounty Hunter Scanner"**

"Journal"

* * *

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 3: The Brave Blue Warrior_

* * *

"Shit." Jango muttered as he stared at the creature before him. He had been saying that quite a bit lately and it was starting to form into a habit. This time it was completely called for however as he stared upwards at a huge monstrosity before him. It towered over him easily the size of a skyscraper and looked somewhat like a worm. Only if said worm was humongous, spit acid at him, and was trying to eat him. He could see the others running back towards a vehicle known as the Mako but Jango would never make it back there on foot faster than this thing could eat him. So he did the only thing he could and pulled out his blasters. "You're damn ugly." He said before firing at the abomination.

* * *

 **Eight hours ago.**

Jango sat around the Normandy's cargo hold as he waited for Shepard to get done with her current chat session with an Admiral. If Jango recalled correctly, the Admiral's name was Hackett. It didn't matter to Jango however as long as this little side job was quick. They needed to get back after Saren and he was getting impatient. He turned towards a krogan approaching him. It was an older krogan based on the scars and even the way he carried himself. The red clad alien walked with confidence but didn't hold the overabundance of pride as some of the other krogans he had met.

"You the one who took down that geth outpost?" The Krogan said as he finally stopped a few feet away from him. Jango simply nodded his head towards the alien. Jango was currently wearing all his armor and simply waiting for Shepard to get the briefing out of the way. She had called him to the ship so he could help with the "ground attack" apparently. He'd head back to his ship after this mission was complete. "That was good work though I'd like to see how you'd fair against a krogan." Jango crossed his arms as he said. "I've taken down some krogan here and there. You looking for a fight?" The krogan smiled as he replied. "I'm always looking for a fight."

Jango smirked under his mask. This krogan reminded him of some of the mandalorians back home. The more experienced mandalorians at that. "We got a lot of space, up for a fight?" The krogan nodded as he said. "Let's do it."

Jango set down his blasters and jetpack before following the krogan to the center of the room. He walked a few steps away before turning to the scarred krogan. "Ready?" He asked as he rolled his shoulders. "Always." The krogan responded before charging him. The krogan was faster than the previous ones he had fought but Jango was still faster. Jango rolled out of the way and watched as the krogan tried to spin around. Jango was able to land a solid punch into the underside of the krogan's head. It hurt like a bitch but it at least somewhat appeared that it affected the krogan as he slightly frowned.

Jango ducked under a punch before hitting the krogan right under his armor in a less protected place. It still hadn't done much as the krogan simply shrugged it off and attempted to punch him again. Jango hadn't killed six Jedi with his bare hands with slow reflexes however and was able to redirect the punch to his left. Jango needed to rethink his strategy. The krogan was simply too durable to punch at forever. Jango began assessing his target for weak points. _"Crotch is covered, head is protected, and everywhere else is armored."_ Jango thought to himself as he rolled out of the way of another punch.

" _Either his neck or eyes then, neither an easy task to hit."_ He thought as a plan formed in his head. Using the krogan's weakness, Jango ducked under the krogan's next punch, and then used his speed to get behind the krogan. He hopped onto the krogan's back and shoulders and used his flexibility to trap one of the krogan's arms between his legs.

By now a rather large group of crew members stood around the two as they fought. Some betting on who would win, though most bet on the krogan's victory. Jango used his position to punch the krogan's throat a few times. It was more effective than his previous efforts but the krogan still refused to go down. One of the krogan's wild swipes from his free arm managed to hit Jango. The blue clad mandalorian grunted in pain as the scarred krogan's fist felt like a freight train hitting him. The krogan then roared in pain as Jango jammed his thumb into the krogan's eye, the only thing that had truly affected the red alien to this point.

A hand eventually grabbed Jango by the shoulder and pulled him off. The mandalorian flew a few feet before hitting the floor as the krogan threw him. The krogan was still nursing his eye as the mandalorian stood up. "That was dirty." The krogan said as he stared at Jango with a serious expression. "Whatever it takes to win." The mandalorian replied. Perhaps in years past he would have previously scorned himself for what he did. The death of almost everyone he loved and cared for had changed the mandalorian since then however. The krogan laughed for a moment before saying. "As it should be, good fight human; perhaps we can do this again!" Jango simply nodded before he saw Commander Shepard enter the room.

"What the hell is going on here?" Shepard shouted as she entered the room and saw everyone gathered around Wrex and Jango. "Shepard! This human and I were fighting. It was a good fight. I hope to prove superior to him some day in the future." Wrex shouted in delight. The red haired woman sighed as she simply ignored the crew members now leaving the vicinity of the angry red head. "Be ready, after we get to the planet we're going planet side to look for a missing platoon we passed up on a while ago." Wrex and Jango nodded to her before heading back to their respective corners of the room.

"You're Jango Fett right?" The mandalorian heard as a blue turian approached him. "That was an impressive fight. Haven't seen any humans take on a krogan hand to hand before. I'm Garrus." The turian finished as he extended his hand. "Thanks." Jango said as he shook the alien's hand. "Thought I might get to know you better since we're going on the next mission together, so where you from?" Jango shrugged before replying. "Don't really want to say. Who else is going with us?" Garrus paused for a moment in thought. Jango figured his response probably annoyed the turian but he didn't really give a damn. "You, me, Shepard, and Wrex." Jango nodded as he spotted Shepard approaching. "Sorry but it looks like we'll have this conversation some other time." Garrus simply nodded before saying his goodbyes and walking off.

"Hey Jango." Shepard said in greetings as she approached. "Shepard." Was Jango's simple reply. Shepard always liked to get to know her crew. It's part of what made her a good leader. "Where'd you get the armor from? Never seen anything like it." Jango shrugged before saying. "Made it." Shepard rolled her eyes before replying. "Out of?" Jango glared under his helmet before saying. "None of your business." Shepard developed a glare of her own at his response before sighing and calming down. It was obvious he wasn't in the mood to talk. "Why'd you start being a bounty hunter?" She said as she hoped he'd give her an answer. Jango shrugged before saying. "The pays good and I've always been good at killing people."

Shepard sighed before deciding to call it quits for now. She'd think of a few questions and come back later. "See you later, Jango." Shepard said as she began walking off. "Bye." Was his only reply as he watched her walk off.

* * *

 **Seven hours and thirty minutes later.**

The group had just dropped off the Normandy in the Mako. A ground transport vehicle with a cannon on top. It was somewhat cramped inside so Jango had taken his jetpack off and had set it in another seat. "What do you think took out those Alliance troopers?" Garrus asked as Shepard drove over a bump. "Don't know, whatever or whoever did it has to be strong, I sense a good fight ahead." Wrex said in impatience to fight. Jango had to agree to the last statement at least. Though he suspected this was going to be a long car ride.

* * *

 **Twenty five minutes later.**

Jango stretched as he stepped out of the Mako. . Jango had strapped on his jetpack as he got out. They had followed a beacon to the middle of a sandy and wide open field. It looked like another Mako was out of order and simply sitting there. "Alright squad, move in slow and careful, this looks like the perfect place for an ambush." Shepard said as the group moved forward. Once there, the four members began looking through the dead bodies. "There's not near enough bodies to account for all the troopers." Wrex said as he looked around warily.

Jango followed a trail of blood however and found a half-eaten body partly covered in sand. He saw a journal covered in blood in the man's hand. He managed to pry the item from the corpse's dead hands before reading it.

"It's over, it's all over. A Thresher-Maw just came out of the FUCKING ground and we're all going to die. Oh god, tell my ma and pa I love 'em."

"The hell is a Thresher-Maw?" Jango said to himself as he began feeling the ground tremble. "Everyone back to the Mako!" Shepard shouted as Garrus, Wrex, and Shepard all began sprinting back. Jango had turned to do so to before something exploded out of the ground.

* * *

 **A minute or two later.**

"You're damn ugly." Jango said before firing on the huge monstrosity before him. It immediately went to descend upon him but Jango used his jetpack to narrowly fly out of the Thresher-Maws grasp. It dove underground and disappeared as Jango landed. By now the trio had gotten back in the Mako and were driving towards Jango himself. That was until the creature shot out of the ground between Jango and the vehicle. "Damn." Jango muttered to himself as he fired at the creature. He punched a few buttons on his gauntlet before a missile launched itself from his jetpack and rammed into the creature. It roared in pain as a missile and cannon rounds pelted into it.

The thing shot acid from its mouth and hit the Mako. Jango saw the shield hold against the acid but he knew that it couldn't take much more of that. That was when he decided to do something incredibly stupid and brave. He ran towards the creature with it distracted by the Mako before using his jetpack to fly all the way up to the head of the creature. He fell on top of it and grabbed hold of its head before using his other hand to draw his blaster and shoot a small hole into the giant. Upon realizing that Jango was on top of it, the creature thrashed about and tried him shake off. Jango held steady though before pulling out a Thermal Imploder. He activated the timer before jamming it into the hole he just made. Jango finally let the creature shake him off before using his jetpack to descend to the ground. He turned back to see the upper part of the creature's head explode.

It fell to the ground and shook the earth before finally lying dead. Jango breathed out a sigh of relief as he began making his way towards the Mako. "Good work out there people. Let's head on back." Shepard said as she hopped into the driver's seat. Jango didn't know where she got all that energy from.

* * *

The group was back aboard the Normandy and Jango was already making his way towards the bridge, intent on simply waiting until he went on the next mission. Shepard had gotten him to agree to stay on the Normandy until they got to Feros. "Not going to join us?" Garrus asked as he watched the mandalorian walk away. "No." The mandalorian replied as he stepped onto the elevator for the Normandy.

Jango eventually made his way onto the main deck before making his way over to the pilot's section. "Hey there T-man!" Joker greeted as Jango approached. "Don't call me that." Jango replied as he stared out the bridge's viewport. "Why not? Someone in a grumpy mood?" Joker teased as he piloted the ship. "Always." Jango replied before spotting his ship. "Tali flying that piece of junk?" Joker said as he flew past the Slave I. "Beats your ship." Jango said as Joker set course for the nearest relay.

The two continued their idle banter as the ship used the relay to go into FTL speeds. They still had a few hours and Jango knew his ship would arrive first. "Jango." Kaiden said as he approached the two bickering men. "Kaiden." Jango replied as he turned away from Joker. "I see, no hello or how do you do for Joker huh?" Joker said with a fake expression of hurt. "I was just coming to let Jango know that he'll be going down with Wrex, myself, and Shepard on the next mission. Jango nodded a thank you before Kaiden walked off.

"You're getting popular around here huh?" Joker said as he turned back to drop the ship out of FTL. Jango shrugged in response and didn't say a word. "Everyone is real curious where you came from. You came out of nowhere on Shepard's mission with Saren and most people don't trust you." Joker laughed a bit before he continued. "I don't care. You don't seem like too bad a guy and as long as I can fly the Normandy I'm happy." Jango knew he was curious despite this but didn't voice his opinion on the subject.

Soon the planet Feros came into view; a mostly barren world and apparently a human colony planet. Geth activity in the area peeked Shepard's curiosity. Jango could see the Slave I waiting for them ahead. The ship turned and the two ships made their way down to the planet.

Once the Normandy had landed, the landing party made their way to the exit of the Normandy. The Slave I would stay grounded elsewhere for now. The Normandy didn't need to attract too much attention yet. The group had to go through the sterilization chamber to get outside. Jango only barely listened to the automated voice say something about equalizing exterior and interior atmosphere.

They walked off the ramp onto a concrete platform like a bridge. They approached a single man that greeted them by saying. "We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately." Jango let Shepard do the talking. "Who's Fai Dan?" She asked eyeing the tired looking man. The man instantly replied. "He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push. Please. Up the stairs and past the freighter."

Before the man could saying anything else, Jango heard the sound of a rocket firing and rolled back. He looked back up to see the bits and pieces of the man sailing through the air as geth poured in. The combined efforts of Jango's other companions easily put a geth down while Jango himself used his blaster to go right through another geth's shield and take it down.

Another rocket sailed through the air as the geth from before shot another round. Shepard was able to roll out of the explosion area just enough so that her shield could take the hit. Before the geth could do anything else, Wrex charged it and knocked it to the ground before stomping it to death.

Another group appeared further along however and Jango had to duck back into cover as they shot at him. This gave Kaiden the time to pop out of cover and mow one of the geth down as Shepard said. "Concentrate fire on the closest one!" Jango leaned out of his cover before firing at the geth. With nowhere to go, the geth soon fell dead. Jango heard and felt a bullet deflect off his shoulder guard and glared at the geth furthest away from the group. "Won't happen again." The blue clad bounty hunter muttered before firing at a geth closer to himself. Wrex sent another geth down to the ground dead with his trusty shotgun as Kaiden ducked back into cover. Shepard used her assault rifle to finish off another geth as the one in the back went to make a hasty retreat.

The geth didn't get the chance however as Jango used his whipcord to pull the geth back before putting a blaster to its head. "You should have stayed at home." He said before putting a laser in the thing's "eye."

The group turned down another hallway before coming to a stairwell. The sound of something moving extremely fast was heard as they stepped up the first few steps. "That sounds familiar." Jango muttered as he looked up. On the walls of the stairwell were two geth stalkers. Jango raised his blaster and managed to shoot one before it was able to jump away. He had to roll out of the way as the other geth used an energy weapon. Before it could hop away, Wrex grabbed it by the leg and pulled it off the wall. The group then easily shot the thing to death before moving on.

They made their way up the staircase before entering another hallway. They took another turn to see a few barricades erected and a few humans guarding the entryway they were currently going through. He managed to hear. "Head to the tunnels. Make sure they're secure." The colonist protested but eventually went as the group walked past.

There were quite a few people in this area. "Must be the colonists." Kaiden said as the group entered a tube like building. They proceeded through it before exiting the other side. The group came upon two individuals who looked happy and unhappy to see them. "Oh, Commander. I'm glad they finally sent somebody to help us." A man in a red uniform said as his female companion added. "You're a bit late aren't you?" The uniformed man scolded her. "Arcelia!" He turned towards Shepard before saying. "Sorry, Commander. Everyone's on edge since—" The man that was most likely Fai Dan was cut off by Arcelia saying. "Watch out!"

It appeared more geth were pouring into an entrance nearby. "Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan yelled as he pulled out his rifle. _"Wonder what's so important about the heart of the colony."_ Jango thought to himself as he gunned one of the invading geth down. The next Geth was quickly brought down by Kaiden using overload to short-circuit its shields and a wall of gunfire. The group moved in as a sniper geth attempted to raise its rifle. It was shot down by the group's consecutive fire before it could do anything.

Another two geth ran down a set of stairs towards them and Kaiden used sabotage to burn through the two geths shields. The sniper went down first as the trooper tried to back up the stairs before multiple blaster rounds were sent into it. Kai Dan and his subordinate chose to stay behind as the group pushed ahead.

The group ran up the stairs before coming across two colonists right before a geth shot a rocket at them. The two colonists instantly died as the group rounded the corner and gunned the geth down. With Wrex acting as a distraction, the next three geth went down simultaneously as they were distracted by him and not paying attention to the rest of the group.

The group pushed up another set of stairs before entering a rather big chamber with the roof destroyed. A geth ship was currently dropping off troops and the group took them by surprise. Shepard pulled out her sniper and instantly killed one before it could react. Jango and Wrex charged ahead with Kaiden in two. As Wrex pummeled one of the geth to death, Jango flew into the air with his jetpack. A few drones flew down through the hole but were quickly taken out by Jango who let himself descend after the geth started firing on him. Kaiden was able to shoot one of them down as Shepard used her sniper to shoot a geth sniper in the back of the room. Another geth was shot to the ground as it was surrounded by Kaiden and Wrex.

The final geth deployed a shield that the group shot down after a few seconds of consecutive fire. Jango simply shot through it but his ally's kinetic weapons couldn't. Soon enough the last geth in the room was nothing but a pile of burning scrap metal.

Then another wave of geth dropped from the ship above. Two geth and what looked to be a leader of some sort. Jango took out one of the geth that had just dropped as his other companions used their combined skills to take out the leader's shield. Jango felt an intense pain as the lesser geth fired upon him. Jango turned to said geth before firing a barrage of blaster fire and reducing it to nothing. He grunted in pain as he went into cover and checked himself. His armor had held but he guessed the force of the impact most likely broke a rib.

Wrex and the lead geth were in a power struggle as Wrex hoped his shield would hold out long enough for the enemy to die, luckily with the consecutive fire of the group, the geth dropped to the ground dead.

With the leader dead, the geth ship pulled away from their spot and flew off towards a large building in the distance. "That should keep Fai Dan and the others safe. After an update we can head out for the main geth encampment." Kaiden said as the group turned to walk the trek back to the colonist's camp.

Jango pulled out one of the few bacta tanks he had left before injecting himself. He let out a discomforted grunt and felt his rib setting back into place. It was an unpleasant feeling but at least his wound had healed. Shepard gave him a weird look as he put the empty case back into a pocket on his belt.

The group eventually made it back to the encampment and met Fai Dan who said. "The tower's secure. Thanks to you, Commander." Shepard gave him a polite smile as she said. "I'm just glad your colony is safe." Jango sighed to himself as he only half listened to the conversation. He caught the important parts like the geth being back, Fai telling Shepard about the geth at the ExoGeni headquarters, and that there was an army between where they were at and the geth headquarters.

Then Shepard offered to help the colony with their problems. "Here we go again." Jango muttered to himself. Wrex laughed at Jango's displeasure and Shepard simply ignored him. Jango leaned against a railing nearby and crossed his arms. "You can go running all over the colony and asking everyone if they need help. I'll be here when you're actually ready." Shepard sighed at Jango's annoyance before walking further into the encampment.

He had to wait there for some time before Shepard finally made her way back. "Alright, we're going to stop off and help the colonists a bit before w-" She was cut off as Jango interrupted. "You are. I'm not going to go on some errand for these colonists. I'll be waiting for you at the Mako." Shepard glared at him but let it slide for now. She'd have a talk with him later but for now she didn't want to waste time. "Let's move out." She said as Wrex and Kaiden followed her.

Jango made his way past the two colonists before heading to a supply hold or vehicle garage of some kind. He couldn't quite tell. He simply leaned one of his shoulders against a wall and waited.

* * *

Shepard was getting rather tired. She had fought tons of geth and destroyed their encampment, killed a varren hunting the colonists, restored water, and talked to a rather interesting fellow. He seemed to be insane or at least trying to fight some unseen hidden force. Shepard knew something else was going on. The colonists were acting weird and the man had peeked her curiosity. She returned and told the colonists of the good news before heading towards the Mako herself. She'd come back later and discover what was going on after she beat the geth back.

"Shepard." Jango greeted as the trio made their way inside the room. There were two armed guards from the colony that were guarding the room for whatever reason. "Everyone get in." Shepard ordered as she got into the Mako. Once everyone was on board, she started up the Mako and left the building. In-between the Mako and the building they were trying to get to was a long bridge filled with geth. Armatures guarded the way but with the Mako Shepard bolted forward.

She used her driving skilled to dodge the geth energy weapons and bullets as she tried to fire back. Controlling both was a hassle however and they made it across the bridge with damage to the hull. She had dodged some of the geth but had taken out others. Along the way they were able to pick up garbled messages from someone nearby.

Soon the group reached another garage like area across the bridge and their radio picked up a signal. A voice over the speakers spoke. "We've got movement… Some kind of vehicle. Not one of the geth." They obviously didn't know Shepard could hear them and she simply stopped as she spotted the only place they could be. Down a ramp that was only barely concealed.

Shepard stopped the Mako as Jango muttered. "Here we go again." They hopped out of the Mako before heading down the ramp into a rather wide room with barricades. As they approached, a scared looking man said. "That's close enough!" The woman beside him merely rolled her eyes before saying. "Relax, Jeong. They're obviously not geth." The scared man ignored her as he said. "Get back, Juliana. Who are you? What do you want?"

Again Jango didn't give a shit about what this man had to say. He zoned out the conversation and focused on the guards making sure they weren't going to do anything. He only barely caught something along the lines of the woman's daughter needed help and that they were close to the geth base.

Shepard chatted with a few of the other survivors there before finally heading out. "Let's go people." She said as she lead the group out of the area and back to the Mako.

Shepard used more of her expert driving to get past the next part of the bridge with as little damage as possible. She had taken out a few of the geth and made it across with minimal damage though they'd have to make a few repairs on departure to make it back. They had entered another garage and would have to get out of the Mako to proceed.

Shepard used the Mako to shoot into the building a bit and clear out most of the geth near the entrance. The group hopped out as Wrex said. "What do they want here? They wouldn't set up this base for no reason." The group pushed forward and went through a locked door by hacking it. Soon enough they entered a smaller room than the last few and a geth armature stood in the center of it. "Shit! Out of the room!" Shepard said as she dived out of the room as the ground behind her exploded. "Not going that way." Jango commented as they went back to the garage.

The group eventually hopped down a ledge into a trashed hallway. The walls scorched with bullets and trash everywhere on the ground. They proceeded forward and were greeted by a dead varren before a bullet barely missed Shepard's head; this was followed by a "Damn it!" From a feminine voice. A woman came out of hiding and said. "I'm so sorry... I thought you were geth. Or one of those varren."

Shepard approached the woman and said. "You're safe now. But why were you here in the first place?" The woman sighed before saying. "It's my own fault. Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up data. Next thing I knew, the geth ship latched on and the power went out. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but the way was blocked." Shepard gave her a sympathetic look before saying. "We'll get you out as soon as we find out what the geth are after." The woman replied. "It's not the geth; it's the energy field they put up. They don't want anyone else getting access to the-." She cut herself off and made Shepard suspicious.

"An energy field is going to make this harder plus she's obviously hiding something." Jango commented before Shepard replied. "I'm here for the geth. It's very important that I find out what they're after." The woman reluctantly replied. "I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the Thorian." Wrex tilted his head as he asked. "What's a Thorian?"

The woman went on to explain that the Thorian was an indigenous life-form to Feros. She went on to explain she'd tell her more but first they needed to get the shields down and that the geth ship is powering it. That was when the woman revealed she was the daughter of the concerned mother from earlier. Shepard nodded and told her they'd come back after they had taken care of the geth ship.

That was when they were attacked by a pack of ravenous varren. With the groups distance and firepower the varren never even got near the group before they were shot down.

Then the group made the long and arduous journey up the tower.

* * *

 **A good while later.**

The group had ascended the tower. Fighting every geth and even a few krogan on the way. What was far more interesting however was what a VI had to tell them. The Thorian was a plant life-form that was influencing the colonist's minds and controlling them. It was what the geth were after and it was located below the colonist's encampment. They just needed to disable the shield.

After killing dozens of geth to traverse the tower and looking for multiple claws to see if they could detach them and send the ship plummeting off the side of the massive tower that it was attached to. They eventually made their way to a claw further up the tower and stuck between the doors for a ship bay.

They were immediately assaulted by a large group of geth; the first few immediately going down due to them rushing ahead of the group. Another leader geth, which by now the group realized it was called a Geth Destroyer, was moving towards them. The other geth backed it up as it charged. Kaiden ducked into cover as Wrex and Jango fired upon it. Shepard fired at the leader's allies and took a few down as the geth shield collapsed. Only a few moments later and the Destroyer fell to the ground finally finished off.

It only took a few more minutes to clear the now scattered geth. Afterwards, the group came upon a control for the doors surrounding the geth arm. "We can use the doors to smash the geth claw keeping it attached to the building and send it plummeting to the planet below." Jango said as Shepard approached said console.

It took a bit of tinkering on Shepard's part but after a few minutes she finally overloaded the door control which in turn super charged the doors. Only a few seconds later the door closed hard enough to completely sever the arm of the geth ship. Even with only one of its support arms gone the geth ship couldn't hold itself up any longer. The ship fell off the building and plummeted to the ground far below.

The shields blocking their exit were down and so was the almost all of the geth forces in the area. Only a few seconds after the geth ship collapsed Joker attempted to contact Shepard. "I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me!" Shepard answered Joker a bit confused. "Is that you, Joker? What's going on over there?" Joker replied in a panicked tone. "We're in lockdown here, Commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way inside the ship. They're freaking out!" Shepard attempted to calm Joker. "They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back. Just hold your position." Joker sighed before saying. "Uh… Yeah. Okay. Well, we'll just wait right here for you, Commander."

Shepard closed coms before saying. "Alright this place will be crawling with any geth remaining in a minute. Let's stick together and get out of here." The group followed her down the tower which turned out to be a rather uneventful trip. Lizbeth; the worker from earlier and daughter of the concerned mother appeared and said. "There you are! We should get out of here. I don't think this place is safe." Shepard gave her a suspicious look before saying. "I need some answers. You knew more about the Thorian than you let on." The girl began stuttering as she said. "I—I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me, told me I'd be next. When the geth attacked, I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs. I tried to tell them where to find the Thorian, but the power cut before I could send a message. I—I never meant for this to happen."

"Our job would have been a lot easier if you sent your message." Jango commented before Shepard replied. "You did what you could. I'll help them if you can tell me where to find the Thorian." Lizbeth replied. "It's under Zhu's Hope; the colonist's encampment. The colonists covered it with the freighter just before the geth attacked."

Before they could continue their conversation, Joker cut in. "Normandy to shore party, come in." Shepard put a hand to the side of her head before saying. "What is it Joker?" Joker replied. "We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter. Looks like they're headed your way." Shepard thanked Joker before telling the group to move out.

Lizbeth tagged along for the ride as they piled into the Mako. "We need to do repairs." Kaiden said as he got seated. "No time, we'll have to get back like this." Shepard replied as she sped out of the garage. She swerved, shot, and ran over geth to get to the other side of the bridge. The Mako was only partially damaged before but now it was in severe need of repairs.

They had just entered the first garage on their way back when they received a message from Lizbeth's mother nearby. Lizbeth immediately hopped out to get her mother and the group followed after her.

The group ran down the ramp to see the cowardly man from before losing his mind. Once Jeong the cowardly ordered the other survivors in the area to detain Lizbeth's mother, the girl ran out to help, thus revealing the entire group.

The man sighed before saying. "Shepard, Damn it! I knew it was too much to hope the geth would kill you. I found some interesting facts about you in the ExoGeni database. I know what you did during the Blitz, but your heroics aren't needed here." Shepard tried to calm him down as Jango decided to do something he hadn't done in a while. Scan the man to see if he was in his database of bounties. "We can talk this out. Nobody needs to get hurt." Shepard said to try and placate the man. "It's not that easy. Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged." Jeong said as he slightly calmed down.

As the entire room began to argue the morals of people in the room and what they should do, Jango had found the man's bio.

 **WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE:**

 **Ethan Jeong**

 **ALIVE: 3000 Credits**

 **DEAD: 2000 Credits**

 **SPECIES: Human**

 **SEX: Male**

 **LAST KNOWN LOCATION: Feros**

 **BRIEF: Wanted for crimes against humanity committed on Earth. Escaped confinement and is currently believed to be somewhere on Feros.**

 **Originator: Alliance Admiral Hackett**

"You have a bounty on your head." Jango said as he turned off his Bounty Hunter Scanner. The man's eyes went wide as he pulled out a pistol. Before he could do anything, a cord wrapped around him and trapped his limbs. "What the hell Jango!" Shepard said as the guards behind them turned to look at the scene. Kaiden and Wrex warned them with their guns to not try anything.

"He's wanted dead or alive. I'm bringing him in." Jango said as he began dragging the man back towards the Mako. Shepard glared at the bounty hunter but for now had bigger fish to fry. She turned back and began discussing on how to non-lethally deal with the colonists.

A few minutes later Shepard walked out of the outpost and back into the Mako with Wrex and Kaiden. "We're going to have a chat about this later." Shepard said as she hopped into the driver's seat. "Whatever you say." Jango said as they took off out of the garage.

It only took a few minutes to get back to the encampment as Shepard blew past geth at full speed. Once back the Mako was in terribly bad shape, it was a surprise they had made it back at all.

They stepped out of the Mako to be greeted by a human that looked similar to a husk except more zombie-like and less cyborg. It charged them and the group shot it down rather easily. "At least there's no Jedi around this time." The bounty hunter said to himself and Wrex replied. "The hell is a Jedi?" The bounty hunter shrugged as Shepard opened the door. "It doesn't really matter."

Once inside they were attacked by the two guards from before and many husk look a likes. Shepard threw her newly acquired grenades from Lizbeth that knocked the two guards out with a gas instead of killing them. From there it was only a few minutes until the Thorian Creepers were dead and they were making their way back to the colony.

The group had to systematically make their way back through the colony; knocking out every colonist and killing every creeper along the way. Soon enough they had made their way to the heart of the encampment and were unlocking the entrance to the Thorian's lair when a man came stumbling at them with a pistol.

"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain." Fai Dan said as he stumbled towards them. "I was supposed to be a leader. These people trusted me." He said as he lifted a pistol at the group. "It wants me to stop you… but I… I won't. I won't!" He said as he put the gun to his head.

Before the man could pull the trigger Jango had already shot the pistol out of his hand. "Nice sacrifice there but it's not needed." Jango commented as Shepard threw a sleep grenade at him. After the man was out cold, the group made their way down some stairs and into the Thorian's lair.

"Okay, by the numbers. We just need to find… To find…" Kaiden let his words fall away as he spotted the size of the underground monstrosity. The group was in a huge chamber and in the center was the Thorian dangling over what seemed to be a bottomless pit. It was massive in size and plant like in nature with root like appendages attaching it to the walls and ceiling. "What… Is that?" Kaiden said as he stared in horror.

"Well shit." Jango muttered as they approached the creature. The creature groaned and moaned before it almost seemed to vomit a Asari out in front of them. "That's… Disgusting." Kaiden commented as they approached the Asari.

The Asari began to speak. "Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!" Shepard replied confidently. "You gave something to Saren, something I need." The Asari replied in an emotionless tone. "Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!"

The woman kept shouting more threats and it was apparent there was going to be a fight. Jango however took the advantage by simply pushing her off the ledge she was standing next to while she talked. "You talk too damn much." He said as he turned away. "Let's destroy the tentacles or whatever keeping it elevated." Jango said as the group stared at him for a moment. They came out of their stupor and began their trek up to the ceiling of the chamber.

* * *

They fought creepers, they fought asari clones, and they blasted the tentacles off the walls until the Thorian was weak. It took time and effort as they ascended multiple floors and by the end they were beaten and weak.

"That thing has to drop soon!" Kaiden shouted as they kept running up the stairs and away from the army of Creepers behind them. "Keep going!" Jango shouted as he turned and began mowing down the Creepers behind them. Once they got close, he used his jetpack to fly and catch up with his comrades up the stairs further. "Another one!" Wrex shouted as he began shooting at another tentacle like appendage attached to the wall. With the concentrated fire it eventually broke.

With that tentacle broke the group heard a mighty roar come from the Thorian before its appendages collapsed under the added strain and damage. It fell into the darkness waiting below defeated; the army behind the group falling down useless without their master's command.

A pod on the wall near them opened up and an asari fell out. The group trained their guns on her but she appeared to be friendly. "I'm free!" She commented in surprise. "I—I suppose I should thank you for releasing me." Shepard immediately began to see if she was ok. "Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" The asari replied. "I'm fine or I will be in time. My name is Shiala. I serve—I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I."

Jango listened intently as she explained that she and Benezia were actually under Saren's control and he influenced their minds. At first they simply sought to guide him off his destructive path but in the end became his servants. It had something to do with the ship Saren owned known as Sovereign. Apparently she was offered to the Thorian for information and after that Saren had ordered the geth to destroy the Thorian.

The asari began to explain the Cipher was of Prothean design and Shepard couldn't understand it without her knowledge. Soon Shepard and the asari melded minds. She touched Shepard's head before saying. "Embrace eternity!" Jango could see Shepard's face contort in pain as her muscles were strained and watched as her eyes twitched.

"It still doesn't make any sense. Though it's clearer." Shepard said as she stepped away from the asari. "It will take time for your mind to go through the information." The asari said as she looked on at the group. Shepard asked a few more questions before deciding what exactly to do with the asari that had once served Saren. "You can go but you have to help these colonists get back on their feet. They'll be happy to have you on their side." The asari gave her a thankful smile before saying. "Thank you."

* * *

The group eventually made their way back to the surface and were greeted by the colonists. Lizbeth and her mother told the group that they could rebuild and that they would Make Zhu's Hope their home. The group made their way back to the Normandy before finally getting their wounds looked at. Shepard and Kaiden stayed in the med-bay awhile but Wrex only stayed there for a short time. Apparently krogans healed faster than humans. Jango on the other hand refused to go the med-bay at all. Simply staying on the bridge until the Commander called him into the meeting room. Luckily the Bacta had healed his wounds already.

The meeting began and the crew of the Normandy began to discuss their options. "What a waste of time; didn't even get any useful information from there." Ashley said as she crossed her arms. "The information will come with time." Liara replied patiently. "We only have one more target then. Noveria." Jango said as he stood. The room didn't have enough chairs so he had to stand. Shepard then dismissed her crew except for Jango. Joker turned on the intercom for the ship before saying. "I've sent the Feros report, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?" Shepard agreed and Jango and Shepard watched as the three Councilors holographically appeared before them.

"Commander, Exogeni should have told us about the Thorian. It would have made your job much easier." The Asari Councilor said in greeting before the Salarian said. "You might have been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it." Jango chuckled as Shepard replied. "The Thorian liked to enslave minds. Anyone who studied it would've ended up as one of its thralls." The asari nodded before saying. "Perhaps it's for the best then. At least the colony was saved."

"Of course it was saved. Shepard would go to any lengths to help a human colony." Jango was about to reply to the rude turian before Shepard cut in. "Being human had nothing to do with it. They were in trouble." The Salarian nodded before saying. "Admirable but sometimes Spectres have to make sacrifices. I hope you're willing to do that when the time comes." Jango glared at the Salarian as the Asari said. "Goodbye, Commander. We'll be waiting for your next report."

The holographic images faded before Shepard turned to Jango. "We need to talk." Jango sighed before turning to her and saying. "Alright."

Shepard crossed her arms as she said. "You can't go and just start capturing people like that. I need you to promise me you won't do that again." Jango glared behind his helmet. "No. It's what I do. You want me to help I'm hunting bounties." Shepard glared at the bounty hunter as she said. "You need to tell me first before you go after one at least." Jango didn't reply but simply nodded. "Alright, you're dismissed." She said before waving him off. She'd have to come up with a better solution later but for now this would have to do.

* * *

Jango had made his way down to the cargo hold. He walked past Wrex and opened the doors to the Mako before walking inside. There on the floor was Jeong tied and gagged. "At least I can make a few credits off you at least." Jango said as he reached for the restrained man. Jeong let out a few shrieks of terror as Jango's hand drew closer.

* * *

Shadow – Hey everyone! Thanks for reading. Sorry if there are a few more mistakes in this one. It was rather long and I was rushed to pump this out before I leave for the week. Remember that I'll be posting two chapters when I get back!


	6. Chapter 5: Not a People Person

Shadow – First off I need to apologize. It's been way too long since I updated. I won't lie, it wasn't writers block or anything like that, a new game came out and I really wanted to play it. Sorry. Also school stuff but that's minor.

You guys wanted it so I made a few changes to the style. I got a few complaints on the layout of some things. Hopefully dialogue is easier to understand now.

Take note that I'll be doing a longer review process. So we're back in business but I'll be posting more once a week instead of every day or two sorry.

I'll also be covering the "I'm just going over what the game went over" complaints. Don't worry I'll get to it this chapter.

I'll also be addressing a problem I didn't even realize at first but can now fix thanks to "HK Target Shooter."

Anyways enjoy the chapter!

 _Texts:_

" _Thoughts"_

"Speech"

" **Bounty Hunter Scanner"**

"Journal"

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, the characters, or Mass Effect.

* * *

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 5: Not a People Person_

* * *

Jango was currently less than thrilled with his current situation. He was currently surrounded by quite a few members of the Normandy crew. Every gun in the room trained on him. "Jango, you have to listen to me. Alliance knows you've been using energy weapons. Handheld energy weapons that no one has ever seen. We just need to take a look and see how they work," Shepard said as she tried to calm everyone in the room.

"I don't think so," came Jango's rather indignant reply as he held his hands by his blasters. "I don't exactly trust you Shepard and I sure as hell don't trust your "Alliance" any more. Back off or you won't like what happens next."

It hadn't been that long ago Shepard had told Jango to come onto the Normandy because they needed to "talk." Now he was being held at gunpoint because he refused to hand over his weapons to some military force he didn't trust in the least.

Shepard sighed before she replied, "we didn't know anything about you but we were ready to trust you. You have to show some trust in us too."

Jango glared at her through his helmet before saying, "I said no." He had been analyzing the combatants in the room for some time. There were a few human engineers with pistols and shotguns. Then there was Garrus and Wrex the two main problems. Shepard was a problem too but he could avoid her. Wrex's size and strength combined with Garrus's marksmanship would be a problem. He probably couldn't beat all of them but he was confident he could escape if necessary. Luckily Tali was back on the ship so she wouldn't have to see this.

The bounty hunter whipped out his pistol and fired a few rounds. One of the engineers was disarmed as the rest of the shots went wide. He wasn't specifically trying to hit them but rather make them take cover. Luckily he was fully armored as Wrex charged him. Jango used his jetpack to fly over Wrex as he shouted, "ready for round two?!" Wrex simply turned and smirked at him before giving chase.

Jango felt something deflect off his armor as he turned to spot Garrus firing at him. Jango grunted in annoyance as he flew higher to dodge Shepard and shot at Garrus to force him into cover. He landed only a few yards away from the open elevator but a familiar and armed figure stepped off and charged him with a shotgun. Jango rolled to the side to avoid being blasted by Ashley.

He switched tactics and pulled out his whipcord. She was soon tied up and unable to fire. Jango felt a few more rounds hit his armor and he grunted in pain. He then bolted for the open elevator before diving in and pressing the button to go up.

"That could have gone better," Jango muttered to himself as he rode the elevator up. Hopefully Shepard hadn't already radioed the rest of the crew…

Upon the doors opening Jango spotted several crew members all armed on the Command Deck. "Well shit," Jango muttered as he used his jetpack and rocketed past the group. He just needed to get to the decontamination and board his own ship. Even if she had radioed ahead it would still take time to detach with his ship.

Bullets zipped past his form as he flew over the star chart and landed only a few yards away from the exit. Joker turned with an alarmed look on his face but his brittle bones prevented him from stopping Jango. He felt more pings in his armor, as he ran for the exit; he threw a small incognito device onto the roof of the Normandy. Their weapons still hadn't penetrated his armor since they were rather standard weapons compared to his blaster pistols. They still hurt like a bitch though.

He made his way through the door and into the contamination room. The door closed behind him and Jango let out a sigh of relief. Now all he had to do was pilot his ship away from the Normandy and jump to light speed. He boarded his ship as Tali turned to him. "What's going on," she asked in a rather worried voice as he took a seat at the controls.

"We're leaving. The Normandy is no longer friendly," was Jango's curt response as he powered up the engines for the Slave I. Luckily he could fly off since the boarding tunnel was coming from the Normandy.

"What? Why," came Tali's rather panicked response as Jango detached from the docking equipment. "What did you do," She asked as she crossed her arms.

Jango sighed as he began flying away; the Normandy retracting its boarding equipment. "They asked to see my equipment since they're energy weapons and I said no to them." He turned to her as he punched in coordinates to their next destination. "And they took exception to that," he finished as he activated his hyper drive and accelerated to ridiculous speeds.

* * *

Shepard was angry to say the least. She not only lost a crew member now she had to rush to finish her objective. She had finished talking with the Council and they had been upset with Jango's escape. Tech like that was one of a kind. Now she had to track down Jango before he did something foolish. She went to her Command Deck and set course for Noveria as they neared a Mass Relay.

* * *

"We have a few hours before we arrive," Jango said as he leaned back in his chair. He sighed as he knew he wouldn't have much time before Shepard was on Saren's trail and by extension his. "Get some rest. You're coming down to the planet with me this time."

Tali gave him an annoyed look from behind her helmet. "Why do you always have to make things complicated," She asked as she stood up. "This technology you have could be one of a kind and you want to keep it all to yourself?"

Jango sighed as he turned towards her. "I have my reasons, very good reasons by the way. I can't share them with you yet. Perhaps in the future I will but not now." As he finished, he stood up and began walking out the door. "Now I said get some rest. You're going to need it."

* * *

Tali huffed as she watched the blue clad Mandalorian leave the room. She was tempted to sift through the information on the bounty hunter's ship and see what exactly he was hiding but she stopped herself. She trusted he would tell her with time.

* * *

The two arrived on Noveria in the Slave I. Coming out of hyperspace directly over the planet. They had maintained a rather stoic silence the rest of the trip. Jango deciding to let Tali cool off before he approached her again. As the two flew into the planet's atmosphere Tali pressed on communications and opened a line to the planet. "Approach Control. This is the Slave I, requesting a vector and a berth."

The comms system died down for a second before they crackled back to life and a voice said, "Slave I, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is armed and tracking you. State your business." Jango sighed as he knew this was going to be annoying.

Jango pushed the button next as he replied, "Jango Fett, I'm a bounty hunter. There's currently a known criminal on the planet. I plan to bring her in one way or another." The reply came off as a statement yet vaguely as a threat; actually not very vaguely at all as the line went silent on the other side for a few moments.

"Landing access granted Slave I. Be advised we will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded," Approach Control said as they neared the outpost or at least what Jango assumed was an outpost.

"They're not very friendly here are they," Tali said as Jango landed the ship inside a hangar in the outpost.

"Doesn't look like it," came Jango's curt reply as he spotted a group of armed guards coming out to meet them. "Let's try not to start a firefight immediately," Jango muttered as he lowered the ramp to his ship and stepped off.

The two eventually ran into a trio of three people. The leading woman had an obvious combat suit on as she raised her hand and said, "that's far enough." Jango stared at the woman silently as he waited for her to continue. "This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials."

"Tali," Jango replied as the purple Quarian began tapping on her Omni-tool and holographic credentials were transmitted to the guard's Omni-tool. The woman took them before reading them over. Jango sighed under his helmet. Thankful he had gotten a few actual documents. Everything in this damn galaxy seemed to be documented in one way or another.

"Jango Fett: A bounty hunter. No known affiliations," the woman said as she scrutinized the paper. She continued staring at it a little longer before handing it back and saying, "alright everything appears to be in order. I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services." She paused for a minute expecting an answer. The Blue Mandalorian's silence and intense stare unnerved her a bit but she continued, "I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."

The two guards went to move forward before Jango pulled out his blaster and aimed it at the woman. "I don't think so," Jango said as the two stopped in their tracks and aimed at him, Tali already pulling out her weapon behind him.

"We can't exactly apprehend armed and highly dangerous targets if we're weaponless can we," Tali asked in a sarcastic tone as she pointed her gun at the guard on the right.

"Tali get ready to move back to the ship," Jango said as the trio prepared to open fire.

"Charge and lock," The lead woman shouted as she glared at Jango. "We're authorized to use lethal force. You have to the count of three to surrender your weapons," she continued as she assumed an aura of authority. It didn't deter Jango however who was going to shoot her dead in the head if they even tried anything. "One," the woman began counting as she kept her calm. "Two," her façade broke just a tad bit as a worried look entered her eyes. "Thr—," she began saying before being cut off by another voice.

"Captain Matsuo! Stand down," A womanly voice over the intercoms yelled as the captain looked up. "We know their identities and have received word of who they're after. Let them through." The captain visibly relaxed as the worried look left her.

"You may proceed, bounty hunter. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs," the woman finished as she walked off.

One of the guards stayed for a moment to warn, "behave yourself." Before walking off. Jango sighed as he began walking away.

"You know that could've gone way smoother if you tried being at least somewhat agreeable right," Tali asked as the two walked past the guard. Jango simply shrugged in response as the two walked through a doorway and up some stairs.

The two eventually walked past what looked to be two security cameras. As soon as they did, alarms blared and a woman came rushing out from behind a booth. "Weapons detectors don't mind the alarms," the woman said as she approached the duo. The alarms eventually died down as she continued, "I am Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the incident in the docking bay. One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"

"I'm looking for an Asari Matriarch named Benezia. She's wanted dead or alive for…" The Mandalorian paused as he pulled up her file inside his helmet.

 **WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE**

 **Matriarch Benezia**

 **ALIVE: 50,000 Credits**

 **DEAD: 25,000 Credits**

 **SPECIES: Asari**

 **SEX: Female**

 **LAST KNOWN LOCATION: Noveria**

 **BRIEF: Wanted for consorting with a rogue Spectre and allying herself with a group of hostile Geth. Wanted for questioning but we will pay if she's brought in dead.**

 **Originator: Citadel Council**

"Quite a sum of credits, do you know where I can find her," Jango asked rather surprised the Council actually put a bounty on her.

Parasini nodded as she replied, "Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex days ago. To the best of my knowledge she's still there."

Jango crossed his arms as he replied, "how do I get to her?" The woman's smile turned towards a frown.

"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port." Jango sighed before heading away from the woman not even bothering to say goodbye.

"You could stand to be a little nicer you know," Tali said as the two walked away.

Jango shrugged as they entered an elevator. "That's what I have you around for." The elevator ascended and a message blared over the speakers but Jango ignored it completely.

They exited the elevator and eventually found their way to the Administrator's office. They walked past two guards and past another waiting room before finally entering the office. Already waiting for them was Parasini herself. "How did she get here before us," Tali questioned as the two approached. Jango merely shrugged in response.

"I want to see Anoleis," Jango said as he stopped in front of Parasini.

She simply nodded before pressing a button on her desk. "One moment please. Mr. Anoleis?"

A rather agitated voice came over the intercom and said, "yes. What? What!"

The woman replied in a calm tone, "the bounty hunter Jango Fett is asking to see you sir."

Anoleis quickly responded, "right fine, come in." To which Jango stepped around the woman and through a doorway.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up. I have no time to entertain low level bounty hunters," the Administrator said as he clicked on a few holographic projections.

"You've read my file," Jango replied only to sigh as the Salarian continued.

"Only a fool enters negotiation without knowledge of the other party's tendencies," the Salarian spoke quickly with his species known habits, his cold professionalism showing through. "This greeting is a courtesy," he began saying as he pressed a button under his desk. "I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board. Businesses come here to avoid second-guessing of galactic law."

Jango ignored most of what the Salarian said as he crossed his arms and replied, "I just need to know how to get to Peak 15 and my target; Matriarch Benezia."

The Salarian quickly replied, "she's at Peak 15 yes, she brought cargo with her and Asari Commandos as bodyguards but unfortunately Peak 15 is a private facility I cannot grant you access to. Even if I could, there is a blizzard in the area and shuttles are grounded."

"I'm getting there one way or another. Show me a map to the surface access," Jango said as the Salarian sighed.

"Very well," Anoleis replied as he uploaded a map to Jango's HUD. Just then a group of guards entered the room. "There's another reason I can't let you see Benezia. A Spectre contacted us before your arrival and told us to take you into custody should you arrive here."

"Shepard," Jango muttered under his breath as he counted the guards, five in total not including Anoleis and his automated turret.

"I assume you can understand it's just business," Anoleis said as he got up from his seat. "I'm going to need you to hand over your weapons."

Jango smirked under his helmet. "Right, just business," he replied as he whirled around and shot the nearest guard in the head. The guards began firing but not before he was able to shoot another to the ground. Anoleis took cover behind his desk as Tali dove for cover herself. Jango grunted in pain as a bullet found its way through his armor and went through his leg. The rest of the bullets couldn't seem to find their marks however as Jango lit up two more guards. Tali leaned out of cover and shot the last one multiple times before he went down.

The turret by this time had revved to life and Jango used his jetpack to avoid the volley of bullets sent his way. A few well-placed shots however brought the machine down as he landed on the Administrator's desk. "What was that about being a "low level bounty hunter," Jango mocked as he held his blaster to Anoleis's head.

"Ok ok! You can leave. Just get out of here," Anoleis pleaded as Jango looked at the map the Administrator had provided.

Jango hopped off the desk before nodding to Tali. "Coming?" He then promptly left the room with Tali in tow. The two made their way down to the hangar bay, quickly hopping onto the ship as to not make a scene before leaving.

"Where to now," Tali questioned as she piloted the Slave I.

"We're going here," Jango said as he pointed at a holographic map of Noveria. It pinpointed a point of entry. "I'm going in to retrieve the target and you'll stay here to pilot the ship so I can leave promptly." Tali was about to protest before Jango cut her off, "I know you don't want to but I'll allow access to a few more files and I'll tell you a bit about myself when I get back, deal?"

Tali went quiet for a bit before sighing and eventually replying, "deal."

* * *

Jango had spent the last fifteen minutes or so simply removing the bullet and patching himself up. The help of bacta and what they called "medi-gel" helped immensely though he did it out of sight of Tali as to not raise questions about bacta.

The two eventually made their way to the entrance, bypassing quite a few Geth by simply flying there. Jango's ship was more than enough to handle the planet's cold atmosphere as they landed. "Remember to come as fast as possible to whatever coordinates I give you. I probably won't have too long of an opportunity to leave once I have her," Jango said as he put his helmet on. Tali simply nodded in response as Jango descended the ramp and out of the ship.

It was freezing but his suit was holding up just fine against the cold temperatures. He quickly entered the building with blasters raised. The bounty hunter quickly made his way past a small room into a rather large room. What he could only assume was the garage door began opening in front of him leading him into an even larger room.

He was immediately beset by multiple Geth firing at him. A large red Geth immediately pushed its way towards Jango. The bounty hunter immediately opened fire on it. Without its shields the Geth wasn't so tough. A few well-placed shots took off its first arm, followed soon by its second. The Geth didn't even have a chance to look back up before its head was completely gone.

The blue Mandalorian quickly took out the remaining drone which didn't have the reaction time to heal its companion in time. Now he just had to deal with the Krogans in the room.

Jango immediately had a problem as two heavily armored Krogans charged him. He sighed as he leaned back into cover and pulled a small cylinder device from his pouch. He pressed the button on it and it immediately began to beep. He waited only a few seconds before rounding the corner, throwing it, and getting back into cover. The Krogans watched as the small round object landed between them. "GRENADE!" One shouted as it went off. It caused a massive explosion instantly incinerating both of them and destroying a lot of the equipment in the garage.

"Nope, just a thermal detonator." Jango replied as he rounded the corner. To his left on a platform above him Jango noticed a Krogan peek out of cover. "Never stood a chance," Jango muttered as he used his jetpack to ascend to its platform above. He immediately opened fire as the Krogan whirled. By the time the Krogan got a shot off Jango had already melted his armor and was shooting away at his hide. Jango had to roll out of the way of a shotgun round however. He only just barely got off enough shots before the Krogan could fire another round. The Krogan slumped to the ground dead.

Jango simply stood up and brushed himself off before heading into the next room, using the platform to find a door. He entered through a doorway that lead into a narrow hall. Two turrets stationed pointing inwards towards the facility. "That's no good," Jango muttered to himself as he proceeded past the turrets.

He took a left at a fork in the road before coming to an elevator. The elevator brought him up to another hall. This one however was covered in ice and snow. He came to another door and opened it to reveal a large room ahead. Multiple Geth lined the room and immediately opened fire.

He rolled to the cover in front of him before taking off with his jetpack. A few well-placed shots took down one of the Geth as he landed on another boot first before putting a few bolts in it. He felt a few pings on his back as he whipped around and shot another to the ground. The cold was starting to seep in through his suit but he'd handle it for now. He used his jetpack to once again fly out of the way of incoming projectiles before firing at the Geth who shot at him. It soon lied dead on the ground.

Jango began to walk forward before he heard a noise coming from the vents of the room. It sounded like something scrambling through the vents. Then a large red… Bug ran in through a door to the room. "Just another bug to squash," Jango commented as he pointed his blasters at it. It began charging at him as smaller versions came up behind him. He whirled around and shot at the smaller versions and watched them explode before flying upwards.

He shot at the much more resistant and bigger bugs. By the time he had finished off one the other had spit something at him. He twisted in the air barely avoiding the acidic spit. He turned around and gunned it down. His maneuverability and airborne advantage making sure it couldn't hit him.

He landed just after and examined the creature. Acid dripped from its mouth as he put a container under the "drool." He collected a bit of it before standing up and walking away while he casually said, "this just got complicated."

A few more creatures came out of the vents but Jango said, "I don't have time for you," before running into an elevator nearby and taking it up.

When he exited the elevator, he entered a rather large and expensive looking room. He immediately was beset by small bugs but they were easily handled since they chose to charge him from a distance.

He tried fiddling with a few of the consoles in the room but couldn't get it to work, the automated message telling him that he needed to manually restore power to the room.

He walked around a circular elevator before hopping on it and descending. It took him down to many consoles and he began fiddling. He didn't have a whole lot of Omni-gel on him so he'd have to fix it manually. He began transferring power modules and doing his best though he wasn't exactly and engineer.

Eventually he solved the puzzle and was able to restore power to the area. He could hear whirring sounds as the elevator took him back up to the top. A holographic image of a woman stood before him and said, "it looks like you're trying to restore this facility. Would you like help?"

Jango shrugged before replying, "sure."

"This system is monitored to respond to the name "Mira." May I ask your name," The VI asked the bounty hunter in a monotone voice.

"Jango Fett, bounty hunter," Jango replied stoically.

"One moment, please. Identity confirmed. You are entitled to Secure Access of most systems," the VI responded just as stoically as Jango. Jango's eyes narrowed however as she said "most," if he couldn't get everywhere he was going to have a problem. "Please note that queries relating to corporate secrets require Privileged Access. Privileged Access is only available to Binary Helix executives. This system is ready to process queries. You may access me at any holographic interface within Peak 15."

"Well that was a mouthful," Jango replied as he thought of his question. "Where's Benezia," Jango asked looking around and making sure there weren't any hostiles nearby.

The VI paused for a moment before replying, "Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tramway to the Rift Station subsidiary labs." It paused again before continuing. "User alert! The tramway system is currently inoperable."

Jango sighed before saying, "Of course it is." He then stretched for a second before saying, "what needs fixed?"

"One moment, please. Diagnostics in progress," the VI responded as Jango waited ever so patiently. "Critical failure. Main reactor shut down in accordance with emergency containment procedures. Manual restart required. Critical failure. Landline connections are disabled. Passenger tram systems are offline. Report complete. Do you have any additional systems status query?"

Jango let out another sigh before saying, "what do I need to do to get the reactor back on?"

"The valves to the helium-3 fuel line must be opened. This can be done at the controls on the reactor assembly proper," the VI responded.

"Ok, what about the landlines," Jango questioned as he stared at the exits to the room.

The VI immediately responded, "The landlines connect my mainframe here at Central Station to the various sub-facilities of Peak 15. This allows the crew to remotely access my databa-"

Jango cut her off as he said, "great, the important bit now."

The VI replied stoically, "the landlines are designed for easy reconnection. The router for the landlines is on the roof of Operations. Simply activate the controls, and the hardware will reconnect and reboot automatically."

Once more, Jango sighed to himself as he began walking away from the VI.

* * *

"What do you mean he's gone," Shepard questioned Anoleis in an annoyed and hostile tone.

Anoleis calmly replied from his chair, "I mean that he killed five of my guards and then left promptly thereafter Commander. If you'll excuse me, I already gave you the location of this bounty hunter and Benezia; I have work to get to." He then turned away from her and began typing on the holographic projection.

Shepard knew this guy was crooked. She could feel this vibe coming off of him but she really needed to get to Benezia before Jango. She'd be back for him but for now she'd let it slide. She just needed a way to Peak 15. She sighed as she left the room.

* * *

"Shit," Jango cursed as he rolled out of the way of some acidic spit. He had taken the elevator near the VI up to the roof, had avoided the bugs and restarted the landlines, now he just had to make it back to the elevator. He rolled out of the way of more acid before using his jetpack. Luckily the creatures seemed unable to really get him up above them and that suited him just fine. He landed by the elevator before entering and firing a few rounds before finally closing the door.

He stepped off the elevator and around the VI only to be greeted by another god damn bug. "You all seem to show up everywhere around here," he commented as he unleashed a barrage of blaster bolts before it went down. "Doesn't mean that'll stop me," Jango finished as he entered through a door on his left.

Jango descended the elevator and stepped into a rather large room. Only to be attacked by huge Geth and those jumpy bastards. He had to get rid of the Geth Stalkers before he could do anything. He lured them back one at a time before subsequently taking them out. He then proceeded to avoid the big red one altogether and simply fly over to the fuel lines and open them for the reactor.

Once that was done, he had finally repaired the tram and could continue after Benezia. He began heading back towards the VI only to have to avoid more Geth. This time it was simpler however. He simply used his jetpack to avoid them altogether and go to the other door to the exit.

Jango finally made his way back to the VI before receiving some bad news.

"So I have to go to this failsafe system before I can get to the tram and I have to get to the control system located in the middle of a bunch of bugs before I can fix it. Great," Jango summarized as he closed his hands into fists.

He stepped around the VI before entering a door on his right and completely avoiding another large bug. Jango was extremely tired of so many damn bugs as he stepped on another elevator, this one taking him upwards.

When Jango exited the elevator and entered the nearest room, he realized the problem. The only way to the trams was blocked by a few bugs in the very tight hallway. Luckily he could see them through the reinforced glass, and if he could figure out how to activate the failsafe, he could just fry them.

Jango however was no engineer. The systems locked him out after one failed attempt to override the security systems for the failsafe. Jango sighed as he looked around the room and noticed a dead Salarian. Upon scavenging the dead Salarian's body, Jango found exactly what he needed; more than enough Medi-gel to override the security systems by force.

Jango fumbled for a bit as he tried to figure out how to apply the Medi-gel to the console but eventually succeeded. He then activated the failsafe and subsequently fried every bug that was in there.

After making his way through the hall of now fried bugs, Jango was ambushed by small workers bugs on the other side of the hall. Fortunately they weren't that durable and never got close to him before he shot them.

Jango then made his way through a series of halls and was fortunately not accosted by any more bugs. He made his way into a rather large room that had many waiting benches and was obviously the tram station. Jango made his way forward and entered the tram and subsequently left the Central Station. He was finally making headway towards his target.

* * *

"Jango was definitely here," Wrex commented as the trio entered the facility. The entrance looked like a god damn warzone with dead Krogans and Geth everywhere.

"Then we need to hurry," Shepard said as she began moving through the dead bodies. "We can't let him get to Benezia first," She finished as she began ascending a ramp.

Liara lagged behind a bit. She wanted to get to her mother and find her but didn't really want to fight the man who had saved her from the Prothean ruins.

* * *

Jango stepped out of the tram at his new destination. He left the waiting area and saw that there were two doors before him, the Hot Labs which were currently locked, and an elevator which he stepped on.

When he stepped off the elevator, he was greeted by a few soldiers aiming at him. "Stand down," the leader said as Jango neared them. White armor accompanied a bald head as Jango assessed the man. "Sorry. We couldn't be sure what was on the tram."

Jango just cocked his head as he asked, "you think those bugs can run the tram system?"

"Hell if I know. I'm not assuming any goddamn thing. Look you're human, and that's enough that I won't shoot. But I'd like to know who you are," the man replied with a tired expression.

Jango's mask gave off no emotion as he replied neutrally, "a bounty hunter."

The man shrugged before saying, "I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out and he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more staff then." The man had a look of sorrow for only a moment before his face took on a more neutral and professional tone.

"I don't know what they are and I don't care. I'm only here for my target. Seen an Asari come through here," Jango questioned in an uncaring tone. Soldiers died every day and in his line of work he was usually the one who killed them.

The man thought for a moment before replying, "the board sent an Asari here to clean up the mess. She went to the hot labs yesterday. We haven't seen her since. Couldn't even tell you if she's still over there or alive." He then handed over a card to Jango as he said, "there's an emergency elevator out by the trams. This card will let you activate it. It can take you down to the hot labs. Oh, if you need any first aid, Dr. Cohen is downstairs in the med bay."

Jango simply nodded his head to the man before turning around and… Being ambushed by more god damn bugs. "Damn it all," Jango cursed as he opened fire with his blasters. Thanks to their superior numbers and Jango's firepower they suffered no casualties and the situation was quickly resolved. The man began thanking him but Jango didn't even turn back as he headed to the elevator and took it down.

He stepped on to another elevator that lead to the hot labs and took it down again. Once at the bottom, he entered a rather large room with one inhabitant inside. Upon seeing Jango, the man sat up in his chair and asked, "are you here to secure the situation?"

Jango stared at the man for a moment and decided to lie. "Yes," came Jango's simple response.

"I am certain you are having strong feelings. But what has happened here, it is our fault. You understand," The man asked in a frantic tone.

"Have you seen an Asari come through here," Jango questioned as he stared at the sitting man.

"An Asari? No I have not seen one come through here. This is not important. You must be listening," the man said his accented tone growing more frantic. "Binary Helix found an egg. It was on a derelict ship, thousands of years drifting. This was Rachni ship. Inside they find many eggs in cryogenic suspension." The man was somewhat hard to understand through his accent.

Jango had heard of the Rachni or more accurately read about them. They were a huge threat to the galaxy awhile back before the Krogan rebellion. "Let me guess they tried to hatch it as some kind of weapon right," Jango asked in an uncaring tone. He had seen this many times in his own galaxy. People tampering with things they really shouldn't be messing with to get weapons and profit.

"Yes. Binary Helix planned to clone Rachni and produce an army. But when they get here, they find this egg is not common Rachni. It is a queen. After she lays eggs, they move her to Rift Station. They are thinking that without her, they can raise the babies to be obedient. This was exactly the wrong thing to do." The man stopped to take a breath as he'd been talking nonstop. "I am thinking that without a queen, Rachni do not develop properly. Her mind is shaping theirs. These Rachni are uncontrollable."

Jango sighed before saying, "listen, I don't care. I just need to know where the queen is because that's most likely where the Asari is. How do I deal with them and get to the queen?"

The man gave Jango a skeptical look before saying, "these Rachni are beyond saving. It is a sad thing but they must be euthanized. I am thinking that the neutron purge must be set off." Jango remained silent as the man continued, "arming controls are nearby. All you do is insert key. Then I will give Mira destruct co-, Agh!"

The man let out a scream and then went silent as one of the Rachni pierced his chest from behind with one of its tendrils. The Rachni then roared before throwing the now dead man aside and engaging Jango. Jango could have saved the man but he was talking way too much and slowing the bounty hunter down. With a few well-placed shots the Rachni was dead on the ground. Jango walked up to the dead man before retrieving the purge codes from his corpse.

Jango didn't bother to say any goodbyes to the dead man as he turned and proceeded on with his mission.

* * *

Shepard had stepped off the tram and ascended the elevator. Her chat with the captain had been informative but she needed more info on the local infestation. She talked to most of the staff and learned that it was actually Rachni infesting the station. She was then ambushed by an Asari and Geth in a remote region of the command post. She had stopped the Asari but was now on guard.

Her plan to get to Benezia before Jango was going slow as Jango only left a path of destruction and death in his wake. At least these people seemed amicable.

She was talking with the doctor trying to cure some unknown toxin when all the guards around her became hostile.

* * *

Jango had just gone back up the elevator having barely avoiding the Rachni on his way. He was still feeling the pain from where they had hit him as he reached the first checkpoint for the Command area. Luckily his armor had held against their tendril appendages. With no one there at the checkpoint, Jango was now on guard. He entered the main room and was greeted by the captain. "Sorry bounty hunter. We got orders from Benezia. Open fire," The man yelled to his men.

Jango rolled into some cover in front of him as he noticed a door to the room open. Shepard and two of her subordinates entered the room. "Shit," Jango cursed as he began making his way around the guards.

He got to the exit of the room with only a few dings on his armor in damage. Shepard was a great distraction. He noticed Shepard try to cut him off but she was cut off herself by the many guards in the room as civilians scrambled for cover.

He smirked under his helmet as he descended an elevator. He had to fight a few more guards on his way to another elevator down but they looked like the backup force and were easily disposed of.

Jango got off the elevator and went through a few hallways before entering a rather large room. Atop a platform above him was his target and to his right was the queen of the Rachni in a containment cell he assumed.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness or despair. Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies," Benezia said as she glanced at Jango before turning back to the queen. She then turned towards the blue Mandalorian fully and began walking towards him. "I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter whom you bring to this confrontation. I know you've brought my daughter."

Jango did recall Liara being the daughter of Benezia and accompanying Shepard. "I don't really care about your daughter or Shepard. I'm just here for the credits," Jango said as he twirled his blasters before aiming them at her.

Benezia approached the stairs as she said, "have you faced an Asari Commando before bounty hunter? Few humans have."

Jango smirked under his mask as he replied, "ever faced a Mandalorian before? Only a select few have and lived." Benezia's eyes narrowed as she glared at Jango. "Didn't think so," Jango commented as he began pulling the trigger.

"You'll pay for your insolence," Benezia replied as she sent biotic energy towards Jango who could feel his body freeze up for a moment as Commandos began pouring in. It wore off a few seconds later and he opened fire on the closest Asari Commando. She died almost instantly since she decided to stand next to something explosive.

Jango rolled out of the way of a biotic blast that a second Commando sent his way before firing at the Commando. Thanks to the Commando's reliance on shields however she went down with only two shots, her little to no armor not helping her in the slightest.

Benezia then called in a few Geth as she maintained the biotic energy around herself. Even Jango's blasters weren't capable of shooting through that. Jango immediately opened fire however and shot one of the Geth before it even had a chance. The next to go was a Commando who accompanied the Geth but was shot dead since she didn't learn from her previous ally dying.

Another Commando and Geth were currently taking cover. "You can't hide from me," Jango commented as he fired a rocket from his jetpack at the duo. The Asari was sent careening below the platform she was standing on while the Geth was blown to pieces.

"Tired of hiding there Benezia," Jango commented as he rolled out of the way of debris she was throwing at the bounty hunter.

"I have… More than enough energy to deal with you," Benezia replied as she began hunching over but still maintaining her shield. She called in another wave of Geth but before one of the groups could act there was a huge explosion rung out through the room, a thermal detonator going off at their feet. The group was completely annihilated along with the platform. Luckily Jango hadn't chucked it close enough to damage the queen's containment.

He then flew above the other group of Geth before gunning two of them down immediately. He then landed in-between the last two and avoided their shots at his once flying form. He spun and shot one dead in the face and it crumpled to the ground. The other tried closing the distance but he was able to sidestep the punch aimed at him and sweep its legs out from under it. The blue bounty hunter then put a few blaster bolts in it before it lied there smoldering and destroyed.

The bounty hunter made his way up to the main platform and confronted Benezia who was kneeling away from him. "This is not over," she commented as she stood up and faced him. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

Jango simply chuckled at the matriarch before saying, "true it's not over yet but it is over for you." He then raised his gauntlet at her and shot his whipcord at her and restrained her arms to her sides. "You talked about how your Commandos were so tough but really they can't even stand up to a Jedi Padawan," the blue Mandalorian insulted as he began dragging her.

Jango then spotted Shepard enter the room as Benezia began saying, "you're a petty bounty hunter. I will not betray him. You will—You…" Jango looked down at his prisoner as she began shaking. She then got to her knees and stood as she began speaking in a calm tone, "you must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions briefly but the indoctrination is strong."

Shepard and her crew were already walking up the stairs guns pointed at Jango. "Hand her over," Shepard ordered gun trained on the bounty hunter. He merely sighed as he threw the Asari towards them. She landed on her knees before standing up.

"You're saying you could become hostile again," Shepard said as she turned with Liara and began looking for any wounds on her. Wrex still had his gun trained on the Mandalorian.

"Yes but it would not be my will, Shepard," Benezia replied as she released herself from the bindings Jango had on her. "People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. They key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary."

As the conversation continued, Jango stared down Wrex as Shepard replied, "Sovereign's not like other ships. Where did it come from?"

Benezia shook her head as she replied, "I cannot say. The Geth did not build it. Its technology is far more advanced than that of any known species. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you." Jango began formulating a plan in his head as the matriarch continued. "It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve." She paused for a moment before continuing, "he sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

Jango snorted as he said, "how the hell do you lose an entire relay?"

She glared at the crude bounty hunter as she replied, "four thousand years ago, a star nearby went supernova. The shockwave propelled the relay out of its system but did not damage it. Its precise vector and speed are impossible to determine. As millennia passed, the nebula created by the nova enveloped the relay. It is difficult to find any cold object in interstellar space. Particularly something swathed in hot dust and radiation."

Jango turned back to Shepard ignoring most of what Benezia had said, "you realize I'm collecting this bounty one way or another right?"

Shepard turned and glared at him before saying, "we need information first and we need to discuss what happened." She turned towards Benezia as she asked, "someone on Noveria found it?"

Jango began formulating the last pieces of his plan together as he realized he wasn't going to get Benezia out of here alive. He realized what he had to do as Benezia said, "two thousand years ago, the Rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy. They discovered the relay. The Rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers." Jango waited for Benezia to spill all the useful information she had before enacting his plan.

"I took the location of the relay from the queen's mind. I was not gentle," Benezia said as Jango began recording the conversation with his helmet. Shepard asked a few more inane questions before Benezia said, "I was not myself, but—I should have been stronger." The matriarch stepped forward before handing something to Shepard. "I transcribed the data to an OSD. Take it. Please. Saren wouldn't tell me his destination. But you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived."

Benezia then looked down and held her head as she said, "you have to stop—me. I can't—His teeth are at my ear. Fingers on m-" She was cut off by a blaster bolt going through her head. Her head jerked back as she fell backwards dead on the ground. Jango was not about to fight her again.

"No," Liara screamed out as she rushed to her now dead mother's side. Jango let out a grunt of pain as Wrex shot him point blank. His armor only barely holding as he took off with his jetpack.

"I'll leave the Rachni queen to you Shepard," Jango yelled out as he flew away from them and out of the Asari Commandos line of fire that were pouring into the room.

Jango made his way back towards the tram. Not having any more trouble now that the guards and Rachni were all dead. He raced ahead as Shepard dealt with more problems. Hopping on the tram and making his way back towards the exit. He had recorded the death of Benezia and the combat he had with her. It was sure to get him the 25,000 credit bounty on her head. Too bad he wouldn't get the full thing.

* * *

Jango made his way to the exit before using the intercom on his helmet to say, "Tali I need pickup at the primary entrance ASAP."

Static came over his helmet's radio as he heard Tali reply, "I'll be there shortly."

Not long after, the Slave I landed in front of him and he boarded. He sat down beside Tali as she flew away. "I need you to begin tracking the Normandy," Jango said as he pointed to a button on the console. She nodded before pressing it and seeing a tracker constantly sending a signal to them.

"When did you do that," Tali questioned as she turned to the bounty hunter.

"I did it when I was escaping their ship and threw a small tracking device in there. That's how we're getting to our next target," he replied as he took off his helmet and leaned back in his chair exhausted. "I'll tell you about myself after I've gotten some rest deal," Jango said rather tired.

Tali sighed in response before she said, "deal." She then piloted the ship away from the planet's atmosphere and waited for the Normandy.

* * *

Shepard was rather upset with how things had turned out. Liara was hurt emotionally now, the Council was angry at her for letting Jango get away and setting the Rachni free, and Jango was still out there. At least she had the coordinates to the Mu Relay but she needed an actual destination before she could go to it.

She was resting in her room and deciding on what to do next. At least Jango didn't have the coordinates to the next destination so she could theoretically take as long as she'd like. She still needed to figure out what she was going to do about the blue bounty hunter. "This is a mess," she muttered to herself as she closed her eyes and slept.

* * *

Shadow – Thanks for reading people. I know this took way too long to get out but ya know the new format and such will slow me down. Hopefully after the next week my schedule should clear up but for now I'll try posting once a week.


	7. Chapter 6: The True Enemy

Author's Note: First off I'm going to be using Author's Note instead of "Shadow" to look more professional.

I need to give special thanks to a YouTuber by "fuschelfu." He helped refresh my memory in a slow, thorough, and well played playthrough of Mass Effect.

As far as Tali's name, that will be staying the same. Remember that Tali's name didn't change in the first game after her prolonged stay on the Normandy. It only happened during the second game.

It's also been forever since an update. I apologize but I started college and lost a lot of free time I had before. First semester was not a cakewalk.

I appreciate all the positive feedback because there is a plethora of it. Rest well knowing this story isn't going to dead end. It's just going to have long periods of inactivity as I try to get my act together.

I'll be addressing complaints and criticisms brought up, and doing my best to fix them, while still maintaining the story.

" _Texts"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, the characters, or Mass Effect._

* * *

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 6: The True Enemy  
_

* * *

Jango leaned back in his chair as he stared at the monitor. The holographic display showed the 25,000 credits had been sent to his false account or the account he could liquidate if they tried to track him. Shepard either hadn't brought back the body of Benezia or this was a trick to try and track him. Either way he transferred the credits out of said account and left just enough to entice the Volus banking clan to liquidate his account for him. This was a common practice for him back home since bounty hunters made enemies in abundance.

The Volus were small greedy creatures but were politically powerful. He couldn't imagine most Volus's being a physical threat unless under extreme circumstances. That wouldn't mean he'd underestimate them however, underestimating left a bounty hunter dead, and there was a reason he had been in the game so long.

"Jango, how exactly does this work," Tali asked as she opened the door to the cockpit. Jango turned to her and his eyes met her mask. Now that she could see his face; Tali realized that he looked tired to put it simply.

Jango examined the item in her hands before replying, "that's a translator from my home. I was able to decipher the lang-" The Mandalorian cut himself off midsentence before simply sighing and turning back to the controls of Slave I. He had used a translator from his galaxy to decipher the basic language from this galaxy from Nihlus's omni-tool. From there he could use said translator to read whatever he needed to and even had a second translator in his helmet. He didn't know the language personally but he didn't need to.

Tali sighed before sitting down next to him. The purple clad Quarian was frustrated to say the least. Every time she tried to get him to open up he'd just clam up even more about his past. "What were your parents like?"

The question caused him to pause for a moment. He soon returned to his casual check over the holographic projector before replying, "they're dead so it doesn't matter."

Tali went silent at his response as she began to ponder. What kind of life would make a man want to become a bounty hunter? Probably not a good one and probably not one she should pry into but… "Any other family?"

Again she got him to pause as he went silent for several seconds. "Only a son left; his name's Boba," the Mandalorian replied as he continued working over the monitors. She was mildly surprised to learn that this man could love a woman but perhaps he wasn't so stern after all. Then she remembered that there was only one family member alive and she went quiet. She missed her parents and couldn't imagine being left all alone in the galaxy to raise a child.

"Can I meet hi-" She only got a few words off before he quickly cut her off.

"No." She again went quiet as he continued working on the monitors. Perhaps this had been a bad idea to press into his past. She saw him sigh before he turned to her again and said, "I can't see him right now and it's a touchy subject. Can we please just stick to other topics?"

She sighed in relief as he turned back to his monitor. While it was sad that he couldn't see his son, at least he was talking to her now! "Why did Shepard attack you?"

Jango rolled his eyes and let out a groan. She just had to go back onto another touchy subject. "From what I can gather, Shepard was strong armed by her bosses into getting my weapons from me. This was an order I assume because they didn't want some random thug to possess such lethal equipment and them being her bosses leaves her no choice." He looked up at the clock on the holographic image and mentally made a note of how close they were to their destination as he spoke. He continued look back at her as he continued, "I can't really blame her but until she's not being strong armed into taking my equipment I can't work with her."

Tali sighed again at her companion's problem. On one hand she did want him to share his technology with the rest of the galaxy but on the other she didn't exactly want to the Council to have it solely. They'd likely take it and have their scientists reverse engineer for some time before the public would ever see it. "I understand," she said quietly before a beeping came from Jango's monitor.

Only a few seconds later the two came out of hyperspace above a planet. "So this is where the Normandy is," Tali said as she stared down at the planet. Jango simply nodded his head as they began scanning the planet below.

* * *

Shepard had to restrain herself from punching something or someone as she left the briefing room. The Council was pressing every button in her body now as the Normandy flew towards their next destination. She had done a few missions here and there since Jango didn't know where the next objective was but he'd found out eventually.

Apparently the Council failed to track him after he sent the recording of him blasting Benezia. He had used the Volus Clan's greed to liquefy any trace of where the credits had gone and now the Council was demanding she find him.

She had more pressing matters at the moment however as she descended Normandy's elevator. As soon as the doors opened, she made her way over to Liara's room. The girl was understandably distraught over her mother's death but Shepard hoped she didn't blame Jango. Her mother was going to die either way due to the indoctrination Saren put her through.

"He… He killed her Shepard," Liara whispered as the redhead entered the room. The Asari had her head down in her palms as she sat in her chair.

Shepard approached her calmly as she replied softly, "Liara I know you're in a lot of pain but you can't blame Jango. What Saren did to her changed her and was going to kill her." This only seemed to cause the blue skinned woman to weep more as tears ran down her arms. "We'll get Saren I swear it but for now we need you. When you're feeling ready, come find me, we'll talk this over if you want," with those words spoken Shepard quietly left the room.

This entire mission was turning into a mess and she knew it. She just had to keep her team together long enough to catch Saren and then she could help them more. She felt the ship slow itself as they neared their destination.

She ascended the elevator as she thought over her last mission. Stopping that mad Batarian from killing millions was no easy feat and now she had to go into a mission that was possibly even more dangerous. She was tired but knew she had to keep trudging on. She stepped off the elevator as they neared Vermire.

* * *

Udina sat in his office grimacing. He had been searching for anything on this upstart Jango Fett for the past few hours and nothing. All he could come across was his bounty hunter information; nothing on where he comes from or who he is. He sighed as he began typing on his omni-tool. He had other sources he could look into.

* * *

A man sat in his chair as he watched a nearby multicolored sun. He was having much the same problem as Udina. This didn't make any sense on how this man got his equipment but was near untraceable. He had to have at least some connections and if he did; the Illusive Man would find it.

* * *

"I want this looked into," a deep and static filled voice said as a rather small Volus stared at the monitor.

"O-of course sir!" The Volus said rather terrified as he shuddered at the thought of what would happen to him if he failed.

"Good, then get on it."

The Volus jumped to and began his job immediately as he replied, "of course sir!" The monitor faded as the Volus began his arduous task of collecting information on this "Jango Fett."

* * *

Shepard had decided to bring Wrex and Kaidan along with her. The Mako was trembling greatly as Joker descended into the atmosphere. The group had discussed earlier how Joker was going to descend into the atmosphere of Virmire and drop the Mako off with them in it.

"Shepard," Kaidan began fidgeting as he spoke. He seemed like he wanted to say something but decided to simply say, "never mind."

She would have to question him on it later as she felt the Mako lurch and Wrex shout, "here we go!"

There was a few seconds of weightlessness before the Mako touched down and the group lurched. They were alive and had landed safely. She took the control as she watched where the radar was pointing her. "Here we go," she muttered as she accelerated the Mako forward.

* * *

Jango stared intently at the scanner as he tracked the Mako and the compound below. "What are you thinking," Tali questioned as he continued staring.

He smirked before turning to her and saying, "I'm thinking you drop me in hot before you rain down fire on the base."

She chuckled in response before replying, "sounds like a plan to me." She took the controls for the ship from Jango before setting a course for the base itself. The two didn't know what was going on but they were going to find out.

* * *

Shepard on the other hand was not nearly as happy. She had made it to the Salarians camped outside the compound but had found out what Saren was planning. His rogue Krogan army and that he had somehow cured the Genophage to amass enough numbers for it. The plan to destroy the base and its secrets had gone over poorly with Wrex.

She was now currently staring down the barrel end of his gun while she tried to talk him down. "If I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons." Wrex said that with such conviction it made her worry; that and the shotgun currently being pointed at her.

"Wrex, these Krogan are not your people," she began before taking a breath. "They're slaves of Saren. Tools. Is that what you want for them?" At the end of her speech, Shepard lowered her own weapon and trusted that Wrex wouldn't shoot her.

There were a few long drawn out moments but Wrex eventually lowered his weapon as he said, "no. We were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the Rachni, they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be as generous." The Krogan shook his head in dismay before continuing, "I don't like this Shepard but I trust you enough to follow your lead. Just one thing, when we find Saren, I want his head." Shepard grinned as she nodded her head in reply.

The Commander was making her way back over to the Salarian to discuss the plan for taking down Saren's base before she spotted something in the sky. "What the hell…" She muttered as the object drew closer. The sound of a ship flying overhead filled the area as she spotted the Slave I come in for a descent. "Son of a bitch, how did he find us?" The question was left unanswered as the ship flew overhead and straight for Saren's base as explosions rocked the area.

She dashed towards the Salarian intent on getting to the base.

* * *

Jango grunted as he fell to one knee. A projectile had obviously hit the Slave I with enough force to knock him over. He was currently in the cargo bay as he readied himself for exiting the ship. "You ok up there," he questioned through his antenna.

"Just fine!" Was the reply he got before the ship lurched. "Be ready for a quick and unsteady entry," she said over comms as he heard another explosion.

He felt a shift in gravity as the Slave I tilted as if for landing. He righted himself as the door opened and the ramp extended; he then began running down the ramp. The sound of gunfire and explosions filled his ears as he realized how poor a plan this was. He managed to jump off and begin falling right before Tali began ascending back up and away from the turrets shooting at the Slave I. The base had been more heavily defended than he thought.

He activated his jetpack and slowed his descent before landing on the roof of the building. Even with his jetpack it was a hard landing and he fell to one knee in the classic "superhero" landing. He looked up and saw one of the turrets aiming at him. Even his armor couldn't withstand a blast from that and he dove to the side before using his jetpack to increase the distance. Even with his increased speed he felt the blast push him further and over the side of the building.

The only reason he was alive to feel himself falling was due to his armor. The grey and metallic building rushed passed him as he tried to correct himself. He managed to slow his descent with his jetpack but still hit the ground and fell forward onto his stomach and into water. Jango lifted his head out of the shallow water and shook it to clear his vision. He looked around and it appeared he was in a small stream next to the base.

He saw the Slave I fly overhead before dropping some "cargo." Jango ran the opposite direction as a large explosion took out half the compound. "I'm down here," Jango growled over his comms as the Slave I flew around for another assault.

"Sorry," Tali apologized as she began firing at the base with the laser cannons instead. Jango figured she probably destroyed a good portion of the base with that alone. "By the way, it looks like Shepard is making a push on the base so you'd better hurry." It almost sounded like the Quarian was taunting him. He grunted as he began his trek back towards the base.

* * *

Shepard had made quite a few pit stops on her way to Saren's base. She had taken down multiple defenses for the base to make it easier on the distraction team. Now she was so close to the base and her objective. That's when she spotted him. Jango was using his jetpack to simply fly up the wall and over many of the bases defenses. She began to double time it to the base but was forced into cover as Geth and Krogans alike attacked her.

* * *

The bounty hunter knew he had surprised the Asari when he flew through her window. He had seen Shepard earlier and decided to double time it. He had even chanced fate and ran past the turrets stationed above the building. She ducked behind the table and began pleading for her life but he simply interrupted her stating, "open the door."

She happily obliged before he simply ignored her and walked past. He didn't care for her at all and began walking across a small bridge. Shortly thereafter he took an elevator down to a suspicious looking room.

The room was medium sized and had a walkway that seemed to end at a communications holographic display. At first when he tried to use it, nothing happened. Only when he walked away that a… Figure conjured itself before him.

"You are not Saren." It was a simple statement and a true one but the tone and strange robotic sound put him off. He recognized the shape of the ship he saw taking off from that planet when he first came to this galaxy.

He approached the holographic figure before replying, "no." It was simple and blunt but it was his way.

Its echoing voice filled the room again as the "ship" continued, "rudimentary creature of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding." Jango got the distinct impression that the ship itself was talking to him. What was this thing?

He said nothing as it continued, "there is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign!" The ship itself was alive. Of course it was. It only made Jango's job confusing and probably harder. He had studied up on the information of the Reapers while on board the Normandy. Supposedly the end all be all for a civilization that was possibly more advanced than his own.

He continued to stare at the image from behind his helmet as he said, "so you're a Reaper." He didn't get the whole picture but he understood enough to know that this thing was dangerous.

It seemed somewhat inquisitive in its response at first, "Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are." This thing must have been damn old if the reports from Liara were correct. "Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and exista-"

Jango had enough. "I don't care," was his only reply interrupting the machine. This thing sure liked to talk but he had enough. "Your speech doesn't affect my mission. Where is Saren?"

The machine paused for only a brief moment before replying, "even if you manage to kill Saren, you cannot stop us. The cycle cannot be broken. The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance; and at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the fir-"

Again the Mandalorian cut off the hologram as he replied, "I don't care. There's another person coming here shortly that will listen to your speech." The "T" shaped mask stared down the Reaper as he continued, "where is Saren?"

Again, the image paused for only the briefest moment before replying, "you will not stop us; even if your technology is somewhat foreign to us. We are legion and our numbers will darken the skies."

Jango grunted in annoyance before turning away. He didn't need to bother to say goodbye to this machine. It was only then it left him with the vague threat, "you exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it." Jango simply grunted his reply before stepping on the elevator.

At the top of the elevator he stepped onto the bridge before being met by a familiar trio. It appeared that Shepard had set out with Liara and Wrex after she had met with the Salarians. His only greeting was, "get out of my way."

The trio readied themselves as Shepard replied, "I can't do that Jango. The Council has a warrant out for your arrest."

The bounty hunter let the tension hang in the air as he glanced at Liara. She was upset with him if her hate filled glare told him anything. He felt slightly bad for the girl but business was business and Benezia was dead either way.

There have been many warriors who have come up with techniques and tactics to winning fights. Discipline, training, and weapons were all things a warrior wanted to have in order to win. Jango went by a much simpler rule than that: the one that shoots first wins. The blaster bolt that shot Liara's gun out of her hands seemed to prove his point but he still took 12 rounds from Shepard's gun and a blast from Wrex's shotgun. He felt his armor give out as one of Shepard's rounds pierced his hip. He grunted in pain before using his jetpack and flying upwards. He managed to not take another hit as he flew away from their gunfire.

He coughed a bit as he landed but it looked like Tali had dealt with most of the base's turrets by now. He hoped she was doing ok as he saw the Normandy circling overhead. He made his way over to a small hallway like area with no roof and used his jetpack to descend into it. There he pulled out a bacta pack and stabbed it in the injured area. Luckily for him the bullet had gone all the way through so he didn't have to worry about his wound healing over the bullet. His wound healed for the most part but he'd need more when he got back on the Slave I.

For now he ascended out of the hole and took in his surroundings. There we more Geth to be killed obviously but he needed to stay away from any of Shepard's forces. He ran to the edge of a building and began firing at a few Geth below.

* * *

Shepard had just finished clearing the landing zone for the Normandy to drop off the bomb. She remembered sparing the Asari greeter—or was she a secretary—only to have her fight with Jango. After her fight with Fett, she had ventured further into the facility before coming upon a Prothean beacon. She had used it before having a chat with a Reaper itself. It was definitely a major threat from just the vague implications it dropped in the conversation. For now though she had to deal with the task at hand.

Kaiden had just finished setting the bomb when she received a message from Ashley asking, "Commander, can you read me?" She replied affirmative before Ashley continued, "Negative, Commander. The Geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties. We'll never make the rendezvous point in time." Ashley tried talking the Commander out of helping her but she was cut off by gunfire.

Kaiden told her that he needed some time to arm the bomb anyways so Shepard took off in Ashley's direction. She had to hurry; Sovereign was on its way to their position! Only halfway to Ashley's position, Shepard saw a Geth dropship land on top of Kaiden's position. Kaiden radioed over the comm that they were under attack and Shepard cursed, "shit!" He then armed the bomb without her permission.

Now the Commander was on a time schedule and there was no way she would be able to get both her soldiers out in time. She had to make a choice between Ashley and Kaiden. "I'm sorry Kaiden," she muttered before continuing, "Joker, meet us on the AA tower!" There was some resistance from Ashley but the Commander had already made her decision. She quickly sprinted off towards the AA tower in search of Ashley.

* * *

Jango had seen the Geth dropship and radioed Tali before saying, "anything you can do about that dropship?"

There was silence for a moment before she replied, "give me a minute." Not thirty seconds later and the Geth ship was falling to the ground after the Slave I shot it with a proton torpedo. He didn't know if that helped but he sure hoped it did. "Jango, Shepard's making her way to an AA tower," Tali said over comms and Jango checked around him. He spotted the AA tower not too far from him and began running.

* * *

Shepard had arrived on the scene and helped the solders around her take out the assaulting Geth. The Geth were going down quickly until biotic explosions began ripping apart the ground around her. She looked up to see Saren on a hovering platform of some kind throwing biotic blasts at her. She ran back and fired at Saren before getting into cover. The Turian simply stepped off his platform and began walking towards Shepard. When Shepard fired, the bullets bounced off a barrier and she cursed before getting back into cover.

He stopped a distance away before saying, "this has been an impressive diversion, Shepard. My Geth were utterly convinced the Salarians were the real threat." He shrugged his shoulders before continuing, "of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

Shepard decided to reply from her cover, "then why are you doing this?"

The Turian shook his head slightly as he replied, "you've seen the vision from the beacons, Shepard. You, of all people, should understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped." She could hear the resignation in his tone as he continued, "do not mire yourself in pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were utterly destroyed. Trillions dead… " There was an odd silence for but a moment. "But what if they had bowed before their invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?" He had started pacing during his rant.

Shepard shook her head still in cover. Did he really not see the Reapers were just using him to make it easier to destroy them all? He shouldn't trust the Reapers and she definitely didn't. "Do you really believe the Reapers will let us live?"

His response was not one she hoped for. "Now you see why I never came forward with this to the Council. We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic. We will fight even when we know we cannot win. But if we work with the Reapers—if we make ourselves useful—think how many lives could be spared. Once I understood this, I joined Sovereign, though I was aware of the… Dangers. I had hoped this facility would protect me."

Shepard spotted the chink in his armor. "You're afraid Sovereign is influencing you. You're afraid he's controlling your thoughts."

This seemed to get him riled up because he said, "I've studied the effects of indoctrination. The more control Sovereign exerts, the less capable the subject becomes. This is my saving grace. Sovereign needs me to find the Conduit. My mind is still my own… For now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me."

She knew what would get under his skin now. "Sovereign's manipulating you and you don't even know it! You're already under its power!"

This seemed to be affecting him as his reply was becoming less calm and collected. "No! Sovereign needs me. If I find the Conduit, I've been promised a reprieve from the inevitable. This is my only hope."

Perhaps she could end this before it even begins. The Commander leaned her head out of cover as she replied, "together we can stop Sovereign. We don't have to submit to the Reapers. We can beat them!"

"I no longer believe that, Shepard. The visions cannot be denied. The Reapers are too powerful. The only hope of survival is to join with them." Saren's reply had a defeated tone and she knew he wouldn't listen to her now. "Sovereign is a machine. It thinks like a machine. If I can prove my value, I become a resource worth maintaining. There is no other logical conclusion."

She'd give it one last shot. Reminding him of his pride could do the trick. "You were a Spectre. You were sworn to defend the galaxy. Then you broke that vow to save yourself!"

Again he seemed just on the edge but she couldn't quite convince him as the Turian replied, "I'm not doing this for myself! Don't you see? Sovereign will succeed. It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive! I'm forging an alliance between us and the Reapers. Between organics and machines. And in doing so, I will save more lives than have ever existed." His tone shifted to a dangerous and somewhat deranged one as he continued, "but you would undo my work. You would doom our entire civilization to complete annihilation. And for that, you must die."

Shepard ducked back into cover as Saren stepped back onto the floating platform and opened fire on her. His regenerating shields didn't stop her and with the combined firepower in the area Saren was feeling the heat. He growled as his shields depleted and his armor became strained under the barrage of bullets. He managed to lure Shepard out and around where there was little cover and nowhere to retreat since there was a cliff face behind her.

The former Spectre's fury grew as he threw away his weapon and hopped off his platform. He quickly sent out a powerful biotic blast that knocked Shepard off her feet. Before she could fully rise, Saren grabbed her by the neck and lifted her over the cliff face. She dangled precariously there before a blaster bolt hit his shoulder. He was forced to drop her and roll out of the way as a volley of blaster bolts came towards him. "Bounty hunter," he said in a sneering tone as he rose to his full height.

* * *

Saren attempted to get back on his platform but Jango wrapped his whipcord around the Turian's feet and knocked him down. "You fool, don't you realize you're dooming us to extinction," the Turian yelled as he faced the bounty hunter.

Jango shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I don't care, either way I'm getting paid and I'm stopping you."

The Turian roared in defiance as he sent a powerful biotic blast at the Mandalorian. Jango cursed in his native tongue, "Haar'chak!" The blast sent him reeling back and he smacked against a metal crate—leaving a dent—before falling to his knees. He coughed and gasped for air through the pain. By the time he looked back up, Saren was already in the sky and charging an extremely powerful biotic blast. "So long bounty hunter," the Turian mocked before a familiar looking spaceship descended behind him and trained its weapons on him.

"Get away from him you Bosh'tet!" Jango heard over the Slave I's intercoms before she fired upon him. Saren cursed as he narrowly flew away. "Jango, I have to go for Kaiden! He's trapped by the bomb," Tali yelled to the Mandalorian before taking off in the soldier's direction.

Before Shepard could even say anything, the bounty hunter cursed before taking off after Tali with his jetpack. "It's been a long day," she muttered as the Normandy descended on their position.

* * *

The ringing sound became louder as Jango neared Kaiden's position. The Slave I was already on the scene and had lowered its ramp but Tali couldn't get to Kaiden through the Geth attacking. Again the bounty hunter cursed before using his jetpack to land by Kaiden. From his sitting position he was firing on the Geth but the soldier was in a bad condition. His shields had failed and his side burned like nothing else as Jango neared him.

"What are you doing here," the soldier questioned somewhat deliriously as he continued firing.

"Getting you out of here," was Jango's response as he hefted the soldier onto his feet and wrapped one of the soldier's arms around him. "We Mandalorians atiniir our allies to the end."

The soldier gave him a confused look before firing on the Geth around the duo. Jango grunted in pain as multiple bullets pierced his skin. He would endure and survive as he had done before. The two trudged through the water and blood and barely made it onto the ramp. He only barely made it up the ramp with his ally before the Slave I took off. At this time the beeping was intense on the bomb and they all didn't have long.

Tali was becoming very proficient with the Slave I however and easily managed to get them off the ground—and with the ship's incredible speed—get them out of there.

A huge explosion filled up the sky as the base became nothing but a smoldering crater in the ground thanks to the nuke.

"Jango you're hurt," Tali muttered as she looked over Jango's form. He was stripping off his gear and armor as he grunted in pain. The two had already managed to stabilize Kaiden and had peeked Tali's interest into this "blue healing substance." That would have to wait for now as she saw the many scars that lined his upper body.

He sat back on the table with most of his armor gone and grunted out, "get the bacta." Tali was able to tell bacta equated to blue healing stuff and so she brought it to him. She had to admit he had a more toned body than any human she had seen but that wasn't her main concern as she saw the multiple bullet wounds in his body. "Only one… Is inside still," he muttered out as he pointed to a hole on his side. "Get it out."

She nodded before hurriedly grabbing some of the tools around along with medi-gel she had on her. "This is going to hurt," she said as she began the arduous process of taking the bullet out. Jango only grunted his reply as he fought the pain.

* * *

Shepard hung her head low as her group sat around the briefing room. She had already melded minds with Liara and spoken to Ashley about Kaiden but she couldn't quite get over it herself yet. They had managed to find the location of the the Mu Relay that lead to the Conduit—it was on Ilos—but at what cost? Shepard knew the exact cost—lives. She still had a report to make however and the Council was waiting.

"Patch them through Joker," Shepard said in a tired tone as she stood.

"Aye, Aye, Commander."

Three holographic images of the Council appeared before her. The Asari Councilor spoke first, "I'm pleased to see your mission on Virmire was a success."

"Saren is formidable enough without an army of Krogan serving under him," the Turian Councilor added.

Then began the long debate over the Reapers and Sovereign; no matter how hard she tried to, she simply couldn't convince them of the real threat. They believed that Saren was playing some sort of mind game with her to confuse her. They hadn't seen the visions! They hadn't seen the death of their comrades! They hadn't seen the death of an entire species at the hands of the Reapers! The Council members were damn idiots who couldn't see the truth! She kept her anger in check however and simply kept silent. The Asari Councilor tried to placate her but the Commander simply wasn't listening anymore. The encounter and loss left her tired and fed up with everything right now—especially the council.

They wished her luck but she still didn't reply as the holograms faded away. She left the room to go get some rest. She needed to think things over.

* * *

Author's Note: So what did you guys think? I can't promise when the next one will come out but just know this story isn't dead yet.

As for everyone else waiting for Players in Space, please wait a little while longer. I need to finish this story before I go back to that one.

Speaking of, announcement time! I plan on making a third story after I finish these two. The outline is already done and simply needs to be written.

Anyways, thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 7: Another Happy Landing

Author's Note: Hey, it's been awhile. I don't really have any specific reason for not writing another chapter. I got busy? Writer's block? Naw, I got lazy I won't lie to you guys. I did spend significantly more time on this chapter than the previous ones, hopefully it shows.

Trying something new with this chapter, I'm going to replace dialogue in certain scenes from the game. I've gotten some complaints that certain sections are simply taken straight from the game. I've been doing my best to change that but I think this will help greatly. This will likely come more into effect in the next chapter and the second arc of the story.

Another heads up, I've said this before but I don't know if everyone saw it. I am EVENTUALLY going to go through all 3 games. Another complaint I've had is that the story is slow moving. I apologize but that's just the way I write and it's to set up for future games. Hopefully you'll understand.

Final note, when it comes to Jango's armor and weapons I try to remain as close to canon as possible but I will take some liberty to change up what I need to. It will be minor things but just keep it in mind.

Special shout out to Mycroft Macarthur, he read the entire story and left a huge reply which I appreciate. Criticism like this is welcome and encouraged.

 _"Text"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Mass Effect, or the characters._

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 7: Another Happy Landing  
_

* * *

Mandalorians were never well known for their patience. They were even less patient when in pain. Tali learned this first hand as she dug around inside the warrior lying on the table. Painkillers would have helped but Jango hadn't had the time while hunting down Saren to go for a thorough medical supply run. She heard him curse in his foreign tongue again as she prodded with the meager tools on hand. She only had the bare minimum for medical supplies and she was trying to find a grain sized bullet inside the cursing man. Tali didn't have much of a medical background but she had learned that a foreign object—no matter how small—lodged into your body for too long can lead to infection.

Tali figured the blue warrior was taking it far better than most individuals however as he hardly moved while she worked. "Just a little longer," she muttered as she reached back in with what was the equivalent of very advanced tweezers. The Mandalorian grunted once more but didn't move as she dug around. There were a few moments of silence and pain before she finally pulled the tweezers back out with the miniscule bullet. "Got it," she said to herself as she set the bullet down and grabbed some of the liquid miracle that Jango called "Bacta."

It only took another fifteen minutes to get the rest of his wounds patched up to an acceptable level. The numerous wounds and scars he had on his body came as no surprise to her as he began putting some of his armor back on. He had never hidden the fact he was a bounty hunter and a few scars were expected. There were more than she expected but not an ungodly amount either. He needed to be really looked at however. She had done the best she could but he had a number of wounds from their last engagement and she wasn't a professional doctor.

He seemed to be fine enough as he grunted a "thanks" to her as he donned his helmet. The two then turned to the unconscious third member on the Slave I. Fett was irritated with the Quarian but at the same time understood why she did it. She was naïve to how the people she rescued would most likely turn their backs on her. However that wasn't the main problem with her saving Kaiden.

"The target was in our sights," Jango told Tali as they both glanced at the unconscious form of Kaiden. There was anger in his voice but it was controlled, a certain calm tone that had hints of cold malicious intent. She had never heard him like this before. She heard his cold but dismissive tone towards those he was about to kill but it was in an apathetic near emotionless voice. This had anger to it and it was directed at her.

There was an awkward moment shared between them before Tali replied, "I couldn't just leave him to die." She glanced at his T shaped visor as he glared at her.

"You could and should have," Jango began as he turned to look at Kaiden. The prone man was covered in wounds and needed medical attention. He was angry and wanted to scold Tali but there was a certain part of him that while annoyed was proud of her bravery and kindness. As much as he hated to admit it, her quick thinking is what saved this man, and it could give him a tactical advantage in chasing down Saren. Though he also knew he didn't really need it, and that Kaiden would mostly just slow them down.

There were a few more moments of silence before Jango stood in a more relaxed manner. "I'll let this go but the next time you decide to save someone; don't let the target get away in the process."

Tali's mood seemed to improve by several margins as she responded, "I won't."

"Now we need to figure out what to do about his injuries," Jango said as he glanced at the multiple wounds covering the man.

He turned around to spot Tali grabbing one of the few medical instruments on the vessel as she replied, "I'll do what I can for now."

* * *

Shepard was feeling the pressure and she could tell her crew was too. She had gone to talk with Liara and she still couldn't get much of a response from her anymore. Liara was doing her best to maintain her cool but Shepard could tell that revenge was the main thought on her mind as of late.

The other humans on the crew weren't holding up well. The pressure was getting to them and the loss of one of their better fighters had hit the crew hard. Kaiden had been a support pillar for many members of the Normandy and his sudden death had rocked a lot of people. Ashley was taking it the hardest however. She tried to hide how she was feeling but it was obvious she was deeply saddened by Kaiden not making it off Virmire. Even Joker wasn't quite as cheerful as he usually was.

She'd have to talk to Ashley at a later date once things had calmed down. The two members of the Normandy holding up the best were Garrus and Wrex. The old grizzled Krogran veteran had lost many friends and was dealing with it well. Garrus however seemed to be motivated to do better and used Kaiden's death as a reason to keep pushing forward for everyone's sakes.

Shepard herself was having second thoughts on her decision despite herself. Even as she ascended the elevator to the bridge she couldn't stop thinking about his sacrifice. It had been either Ashley or Kaiden and she had chosen Ashley. She did her best to push it to the back of her mind as Joker told her that Udina wanted them back on the Citadel as soon as possible. This lifted her mood slightly as apparently the council was forming a fleet to deal with Saren. She set course for the Citadel and they flew off.

* * *

"Jango," Tali called out as she watched the monitor displaying the tracking device. A few moments later a blue bounty hunter walked into the room and sat down next to her.

"What," he questioned as he took the Slave I's controls. He had just come in from checking on Kaiden. They had managed to patch his wounds so he wasn't in mortal danger but he still needed medical attention way more than Jango did. Although he could still feel dull throbs throughout his body while piloting the Slave I.

Tali shifted the monitor for Jango to see before saying, "the Normandy is heading back towards the Citadel."

Jango nodded his head in response as he started plotting a course to the Citadel. "Then let's head there, we need to find a doctor for our guest."

* * *

Shepard couldn't be more furious at the Council. They not only weren't going to go stop Saren on Ilos but they had grounded her in the process as well. Now even she couldn't go stop Saren's insane plan. She wasn't going to sit around on her ass however as she gathered Liara and Garrus. The three were meeting people and pulling up old contacts in a mad dash to get off the station to stop Saren.

She eventually found Anderson, the one man she knew she could trust to help. She had gone on alone to not raise suspicion although with the Citadel's poor security and the Council's even worse planning she probably hadn't needed to. Anderson knew that the Reapers were coming and that he wouldn't just sit on his ass and wait to be wiped out. "Shepard, I know your ship has been grounded but I have a plan," Anderson greeted as Shepard approached but she could see the defeated look in his eyes. The fire wasn't gone but it had faded. She had found the man in a higher end bar on the Presidium drinking.

The two quickly discussed the blunder of the Council's decision and immediately set about a plan to break into Udina's office; a plan Anderson was all too onboard with. Shepard would make her way to the Normandy as Anderson would transmit the access codes to free the Normandy then Shepard could finally go to Ilos to stop Saren.

Shepard was about to turn and leave when Anderson grabbed her hand and said, "that's not all Shepard. There's been new information on Jango Fett." This grabbed Shepard's attention and she turned back around to listen. "Fett was spotted in one of the medical wings of the Citadel by a docking bay. That's not the important part however; apparently he was seen carting an injured Kaiden into the medical wing. I thought you should know."

Shepard was silent for a few moments before she said, "send the information to my Omni-tool." She hadn't even finished her sentence as she stood and headed for the door. This new information shook her as she looked over the information just coming into her Omni-tool. She had left Kaiden to die but Jango had saved him. Her choice was coming back to haunt her now and she had to fix what had happened. Shepard knew she shouldn't blame herself but she could still feel the shame course through her. She couldn't leave Kaiden to whatever Jango had planned. First, she'd get Kaiden, arrest Jango Fett, and then take the Normandy off the Citadel. Her Omni-tool lit up as she got responses from Garrus and Liara who agreed to meet her there.

She paused for a moment at her own thoughts. Did she want to arrest Jango Fett? He was a wanted criminal and dangerous but he had been tracking down Saren. He could be a useful ally but could she really pair herself with that gun for hire? Not to mention Tali had chosen to go with him, he had ruined several of her missions, and was currently holding Kaiden hostage. The last one might have been debatable but the others weren't.

These thoughts were interrupted as she finally came up on the hospital to spot the blue Mandalorian standing outside of it seemingly waiting for her. It looked like she was the first one to arrive. "Jango," she called out as she approached drawing her weapon.

* * *

With Tali inside the hospital getting Kaiden a doctor, Jango had nothing to do. He couldn't go in without causing a fuss so he decided to let Tali handle the process, although he was unsure how much of the process she was even familiar with. She had originally wanted to go to some doctor she knew that had hidden her before but they needed to dump off Kaiden and go. They had places to be and Kaiden was unwanted baggage.

The thought to use him as leverage against Shepard had crossed his mind but he had decided against it. A nearly dead man would slow them down and could be a risk if he had someone who wanted him dead following them. Hopefully he'd get at least some goodwill for simply turning him in to get his wounds treated.

"Jango," said an all too familiar voice as Shepard approached. Apparently he hadn't been careful enough in his transfer of Kaiden.

He frowned under his helmet as she drew her weapon but greeted her, "Shepard." His hand was already inching its way towards one of his blasters in preparation.

She gave a small smirk as she continued, "we need to stop meeting like this."

There was a short silence before Fett replied, "I suppose you don't want to arrest me?"

Her smile faded as she leveled her weapon at him. He didn't know why or what had given her the sudden inclination to speak to him but it appeared the moment had passed. He reached for his blaster as he dove to the side. He could hear gunfire and noted that there were sizable holes in the wall he had been standing in front of.

There was plenty of cover in the courtyard of the hospital but there were also a few civilians mulling about. This worked both for and against him in that Shepard couldn't use any large caliber weapons but he couldn't use his explosives.

He activated his transceiver before saying, "Tali it's time to go." There were a few seconds of silence as he peeked over his cover only to go back down as bullets flew over his head.

A few moments later he heard, "I need a few more minutes to get Kaiden signed in and away with a nurse." Tali's reply didn't please him as he needed to buy time and he'd rather not kill Shepard. He was going to have to do something drastic to buy time.

No explosives because of civilians, no blind fire because of civilians, and no running because of Kaiden. He wracked his brain for an answer. Long distance he couldn't put her down effectively but if he got close he could probably incapacitate her. The civilians were his answer. Sure he couldn't shoot them, but Shepard couldn't either.

He made a mad dash for the nearest civilian which happened to be a Batarian. He didn't particularly like them because of their past with slavery but he was on a job. He grabbed the Batarian and kept behind him as he bum rushed Shepard.

For her part the Commander did her best to move back and maneuver around his hostage but he simply kept the Batarian in-between himself and Shepard. It wasn't a noble move but it got him in close. He tossed the Batarian aside as he opened fire on Shepard. She was forced to move back into cover behind a small waist high wall.

Jango pulled out a different weapon than his blasters before hopping up onto the wall and fired. A blue pulse released from his gun before seemingly bouncing off the Commander's shields. His eyes widened in surprise for just a moment before he fell back from the bullet that entered and exited his shoulder. He grunted in pain as he landed on his back. Stun blasters don't work on shields, noted. He really needed to invest in one of those personal shields for himself.

He brought his duel blasters to bear as he bought himself some time to stand. His right arm didn't want to cooperate and was sluggish but he could still fire his blaster. In another bold move, instead of hopping on the wall he dove over it and into the Commander. She let out a grunt of her own as she was tackled to the ground.

* * *

Tali had finally gotten the staff to take Kaiden in for treatment and was just sprinting outside when she saw something unpleasant. Her friend Jango was currently punching the current and only human Spectre.

She wasn't sure how he was still fighting with his previous wounds probably reopening and a new wound in his shoulder but he kept pressing on. Shepard managed to roll and throw Jango off of her before standing up. She only had a moment to raise her arms to block an incoming punch as Jango quickly moved in on her. She reached out with a kick to try and trip him but Jango seemed to move with an almost inhuman speed at times.

A foot was raised to block her leg before he jabbed at her with his good arm getting a hit on center mass. Shepard backed away as her armor absorbed most of the punch. She rushed back in with a series of jabs before she saw stars.

Tali had witnessed Jango nimbly maneuver his way through the Commander's punches blocking where needed before upper cutting the Commander despite his injured arm. Shepard stumbled back before raising her arms again albeit slowly. Jango gave her no time however as he moved back in to attack. She threw a disheveled punch that he ducked under and then grappled. Tali witnessed Shepard; a fully trained N7 soldier and a Spectre get thrown over the Mandalorian's shoulder and slammed to the ground with one arm.

Shepard moaned for a moment before rolling onto her back and started rising to her feet only to have a boot pressed on her chest. "Stay down," Jango warned as he pressed her back to the ground. He let his foot off moments later rubbing his shoulder and walking towards Tali, "time to go."

Tali nodded her head as she processed what had happened. Jango walked past her and back towards the ship gripping his shoulder with Tali in tow.

* * *

Shepard awoke to the sounds of the Normandy's engine. The last memory she had was staring up above her at the other parts of the Citadel after watching Jango walk away. She had been thoroughly run through in that fight. Who knew that bounty hunter had been such an advanced close quarters combatant? She leaned up off her bed and she appeared to be in the infirmary.

One of her crew members had come to greet her, told her that she had nothing to fear, and that Kaiden was safe. Shepard didn't even have a concussion from the fight so she was set to go. Shepard had tuned her out however as she thought back on that fight. She had been conflicted during the fight and it had cost her. She might have even been able to finish it towards the beginning but as soon as Jango closed the distance it was over.

She felt like it was her duty to capture the bounty hunter but at the same time he was one of the only other people attempting to stop Saren. On top of that he had saved Kaiden apparently. She didn't know if it was for his own plans or otherwise but she couldn't resolve this now.

Perhaps if things had been different and she wasn't in a rush to go after Saren she would have let Jango go but she couldn't afford to have a rogue element on her next mission. It made her feel shitty but she'd deal with it for now.

She wished that she could go visit Kaiden in the hospital but Anderson was waiting for her signal and she just didn't have the time. She would have to settle for knowing he was alive and visit him after.

She wanted to clear her head but first she needed to send the go ahead signal for Anderson to break into Udina's office and transmit the codes so the Normandy could disembark the Citadel.

* * *

Grunts of pain filled the Slave I once more as Tali applied what little painkillers and medicine she had been able to grab on her way out of the hospital. It was technically stealing but she had been in a rush. She felt guilty about some of the things she had done with Jango but knew that in the end Saren was of far greater concern than a few stolen goods.

She pressed her own thoughts aside as worry took over. Another fresh wound that was hastily patched up and Jango still refused to stop for a few moments. "Jango you can't keep doing this. You're going to die if you keep getting hurt like this."

Fett for his part understood her concern but had other priorities. The tracker on the Normandy had started moving again which meant Shepard was on the move after Saren. "I can rest once we're in hyper-space after the Normandy," he replied as he stood up from his position. His entire body groaned in protest but he forced himself into the cockpit and started up the Slave I.

The ship started up and they chased after the Normandy. Tali reminded Jango of the Mass Relays and Jango groaned; he really hated Relays. He didn't understand how they could simply fling ships through space and somehow be near instantaneous trips to other relays. That's not counting the fact almost nothing was known about them.

He grunted as he rolled his shoulder and looked it over. There was pain but it was dull and workable for now. He wasn't on his "A" game but he could manage. He turned to see Tali staring at him before she said, "I'm worried Jango. You've been through a lot and it feels like this next mission is going to be the most dangerous one so far."

Jango only nodded his head in response. She was right but they didn't have time to slow down. It was likely that Shepard was hot on Saren's tail and whatever the Reapers were planning they had to be stopped. He didn't understand the full threat, but giant sentient machine ships were usually bad news.

He was staring at a monitor when he heard Tali say, "I'm going with you."

Jango turned his head in a tired fashion as the ship flew after the Normandy. "On the next mission? I don't think so." Jango sure as hell wasn't going to put the Quarian in danger like that as green as she was. She had a good heart and generally a good head on her shoulders but she could be too idealistic and caring at times.

"This isn't an option," she replied as it was her turn to stare Jango down. "You're injured and going up against not only Saren, his army of Geth, and his sentient war machine; you're also going to be facing Shepard as well."

Jango remained silent for a few moments. His helmet was off and she could see the bags under his eyes now. She had learned little about human biology but she did know some of the basics. The Mandalorian was tired and worn out and she knew he couldn't do it alone as stubborn as he was, "I'm going and that's final."

A grimace adorned Jango's face as he stared at the monitor in front of him. He sighed before turning to her and replying, "fine but we're doing it my way, and if I say get back to the ship, get back to the ship."

Tali seemed to take on a more light-hearted mood and seemed genuinely happy which put Jango somewhat at ease. At least she wouldn't nag at him for the rest of the trip. He'd just close his eyes for a second and let Tali pilot for a while.

* * *

Jango awoke to the sound of Tali talking to him. At first she sounded distant, it was disconcerting but it quickly passed. While he didn't hear exactly what she said, he made out the gist that they had arrived. He rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes before staring out the viewport. "The planet's name is Ilos and the Normandy just dropped off the Mako planet-side," Tali informed him as she took them in closer.

It was only a few minutes later that they came upon the Mako. It was easy to spot in this terrain but he couldn't see Shepard or her crew near it, foolish. "Land us down there," Jango ordered as he pointed to a small field nearby.

His companion gave him a look before saying, "are you sure? I know this ship is smaller than the Normandy but that's still a tight fit."

He gave her an annoyed look and she rolled her eyes under her helmet in response. She slowly piloted the Slave I into position above the field before slowly lowering it. She nearly scraped the sides upon descent but they had fit although the Slave I was slightly tilted because of the uneven ground. It would be a rocky take-off but still manageable.

She spotted Jango put his signature helmet on before standing up albeit a tad slow. She was worried that he wouldn't make it through the mission but she also knew he was too stubborn to stop so close to his target. Tali was glad he was letting her tag along this time.

The two came out of the ship to hear the roar of an engine nearby. They crested over a hill to spot the Mako progressing forward into a large corridor. Jango remembered the Normandy crew mentioning something about Protheans but ignored it for now. Instead he turned back to Tali before motioning her to follow.

The two progressed quickly after the Normandy but only being on foot slowed them down. "I didn't expect to be doing this much legwork," the Quarian complained out of breath as she follow the bounty hunter. Jango grunted his response but she could see that even this light jog was affecting him. His wounds were slowing him down and he was in pain.

It was a good five to ten minutes of jogging before they spotted the Mako parked before a shield of some kind. "Must be looking for a way to disarm it," Jango commented as he slowed his pace.

The two approached the Mako cautiously before hearing voices. "Quiet," Jango muttered as he moved behind some cover with Tali in tow. A few moments later, Shepard emerged with Garrus and Liara. Jango grimaced at spotting Liara but ignored the small feeling of guilt creeping up in the back of his mind.

He couldn't hear them from here but he didn't need to. He knew as the shield deactivated that they were going to continue forward in the Mako. He had to make a decision quickly and he knew Tali wouldn't like it.

Tali for her part knew something was up as soon as Jango turned and gave her a look. It only took a few moments for her to connect the dots as she said, "don't you dare."

Jango muttered out a "sorry" before running towards the Mako. He quickly closed in on the Mako just as Shepard closed the door. His jetpack roared to life as he ascended into the air and onto the Mako. All the crew inside would hear was a slight thud as Jango landed.

Tali let out a curse of her own as she yelled, "you stupid bosh'tet!" Another frustrated sigh came from her as she turned around. She wouldn't be able to keep up with the Mako but she could go get the Slave I. She couldn't believe he had left her AGAIN!

* * *

In hindsight, this was a bad idea. "Osik," Jango grunted out as another turret shot just past their vehicle. If anything shot anywhere near him on the Mako, he'd be obliterated. He barely held on as his body was nearly flown off the roof. A Geth Armature had hit the side of the Mako and had rocked it.

It was worth it though as he had been listening in on their comms and had figured out that the Conduit was a Relay on the planet to the Citadel. He had already told Tali to get back to the Slave I and get to the Citadel. With the speed of the Slave I, it wouldn't take her long to reach the closest Mass Relay, and thus the Citadel.

The Six wheeled vehicle flew past a few more enemies before descending very quickly down a steep hill. Jango let out a very loud and long yell as he nearly flew off the roof of the Mako again.

Then he saw it, but what was it? The Conduit: a large blue pulsing Mass Relay that Shepard immediately gunned for. Shepard was a mad woman if she was going to send a land vehicle through a mass relay with him on to-

"Krif, krif, KRIF!" Jango swore again as Shepard hit the ramp. There was no telling what a mass relay would do to a living individual that was trying to go through it without a vehicle. He hated this galaxy's technology so much. He idly wondered for a moment if any being had tried going through a Mass Relay without a vehi-

He didn't even finish his thought before they flew into the Mass Relay. There was a blinding light and then searing pain.

* * *

The next moment that Jango was halfway awake he was being thrown away from the Mako. He didn't even have time to curse before he hit a wall. Again his world turned into stars as he gasped for air. Finally he hit the ground and simply laid there for a few moments. Even his high pain tolerance and endurance was pushed beyond its limits.

He didn't know how long he lay there but he eventually pushed himself to sit upright and leaned against the wall he had hit. He was still in a great deal of pain but he could at least take in his surroundings. He took a long look around as he slowly adjusted to the pain and disorientation. Was he on the Presidium in the Citadel? How did he get inside the Citadel and where had Shepard gone. Right the Mass Relay, although who would design it to put them so close to buildings.

The bounty hunter took a sidelong glance to his right before spotting the trashed Mako and a lot of dead Geth. In fact there was a trail he could probably follow to catch up to the Commander.

He let out a pained grunt as he reached down to push himself up. At that moment he felt one of the oddest sensations in his life. It was like if your arm had suddenly fallen asleep and became inhumanly flexible. It wasn't painful but he couldn't push himself up so he fell face first. He grunted as he sat back up and looked down at his right forearm.

Half of his arm was like a wet noodle. It bent in odd ways it shouldn't be capable of but not as if it was broken. It was more like if someone had removed the bones and atrophied all his muscles. He couldn't move it at all and panic rose in the Mandalorian's mind. This was debilitating to the point he might never use his arm again.

* * *

Author's Note: There are only two more chapters left and one of them is an epilogue; that means all the exciting stuff is happening next chapter!

Thanks for putting up with this long wait!


	9. Chapter 8: Titan's Fall

Author's Note: This is it; the big climax, the big reveal, and all the action, well at least some of those things. There's not much to say here other than I'm glad you guys have stuck with me throughout this experience. It's been fun writing this and I hope my writing has at least somewhat improved since I started this.

So some people seem to believe I'm stopping after this game which IS NOT THE CASE. Seriously guys stop sending me pm's asking if I'm going to continue the story. I appreciate the enthusiasm but I get irritated when people personally contact me about it. I'll repeat it again I plan on doing ALL THREE GAMES.

I feel I need to address two questions that were asked. The first was if I would be adding more chapters for character development in the sequel. I'm happy to announce that yes and I'll do you one better. I plan on doing two spinoffs in-between games. This way I can work on it longer and get more detail added in while also slowing down for a while before game 2 on a partial hiatus. The other question was about whether or not I'll include Thane. Rest assured most characters if not all (if I can squeeze 'em in there) will appear in the story. It relies on my shoddy memory. Just remember I'm only human and I can't make every character have a huge part in this story.

I was wondering if you all think I should do the second and third game in two separate stories or continue with this one? I was planning on doing two separate stories on here that continue this but I'm afraid that might confuse people.

There was another long pause that I didn't plan on for this chapter as well. Sorry, I've just had other things come up in my life that have slowed my progress on this story.

Also take note there's going to be one more chapter, an epilogue. Enjoy!

 _"Text"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Mass Effect, or their respective characters._

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Chapter 8: Titan's Fall_

* * *

Calm breathing was the first thing Jango had to focus on as he attempted to steady himself. It was just the shock of whatever had happened. There was no pain that came with his arm so he just needed to focus. He really hated Mass Relays. Mandalorians were made of harder stuff and it was going to take more than a debilitating injury to put one down.

Jango regulated his breathing as he slowly raised himself to his feet by pressing his good hand to the wall. Saren was still a problem and he couldn't give up yet. Fett could tell that most if not all of his wounds had reopened as he took his first few shaky steps forward. He looked down at himself and there was an uncomfortable amount of blood on him. He took a few more unsteady steps before finding his footing.

The bodies helped the bounty hunter follow the Commander to an elevator. He quickly entered before leaning against one of the walls. His breathing was shallow and his right arm hung loosely at his side. He could do this; he just needed to press on a little more. It was then that he noticed that the glass on the elevator had been shot out.

The elevator stopped and he barely managed to grab on to something before being sucked out into space. The broken glass led straight to the inside of the Citadel which was currently closed. The inside of his helmet displayed a timer. Jango silently thanked that his suit was closed off and had an air supply. He needed to start counting though as he only had a little over an hour of oxygen.

What interested him far more however was the current ship attached to the main Citadel tower. It was an all too familiar ship that he had seen when he had first been thrust into this galaxy. It was a Reaper and running up the side of the tower were a few figures he couldn't make out. With the level of destruction behind them Jango knew it was Shepard and company.

He could see the figures jump into the upper part of the tower and knew his destination. He bent his knees as he pressed up against the non-broken wall of the elevator before jumping out. The lack of pressure on his body felt nice since his wounds weren't being pressed on. Jango didn't know if that caused him to bleed out faster or not but right now he didn't have the time to question it.

The tower became closer uncomfortably fast and Jango realized he was slightly off course. Sacrificing some oxygen caused his jetpack to come to life and propel him closer to the target. A few short moments later he had to turn away and use his jetpack to slow his momentum.

Jango landed with a soft thud on the outside of the tower in a crouched position. He raised his head first as the rest of his body got up from the position. He only had to walk a few more feet before he spotted an elevator. He walked towards it though it was more floating with thrusts from his jetpack. His mind wandered for a moment as he entered the elevator. He noticed that there were a few sentry towers on the main Citadel building that were destroyed. He imagined Shepard did that but he wondered if they would have shot him if she hadn't destroyed them. She might have saved him indirectly.

He pulled his blood-loss addled mind back from his thoughts and out the elevator as it opened. He took a few steps forward and noticed he was in the Council chambers. The next thing he noticed was that it was on fire. He slowly walked forward as he noticed the dead Geth around him.

The stairs ahead led up to burning and destroyed trees. It was almost beautiful in a chaotic and destructive way. Across the room and up another set of stares was his target and Shepard. He'd finally collect his bounty.

The two were talking about something as Saren had them pinned behind cover. The first to notice him was Saren as he walked into view. He was climbing the stairs before the rest of the room noticed him. The surprised look on their faces almost made the wounds and the trip worth it, almost. What would make it worth it would be Saren's bounty.

He finally reached the top of the stairs and idly thought about trying to twirl his weapon. He was out of it at this point which probably added to the idea. He quickly pulled out his weapon with his good hand before twirling it a few times and aiming at Saren. Shepard and Saren were still talking to and about him or maybe they were talking about something else? He couldn't quite make out what they were saying anymore.

He imagined Shepard was trying to talk him down but Jango decided to kill him before Shepard's talking proved ineffective. A single blaster round went through the Turian's shields and skull before the alien fell off his hovering platform and through some glass into a room below. That was a distant shot for him in his current state; he still had it. He had recorded that for the reward right?

* * *

When Jango had arrived, Shepard was somewhat thankful and worried. Another gun would help stop Saren, but Fett was also a loose cannon. "It's over Saren, we have even more back up on the way," Shepard lied through her teeth as she turned back to Saren. She needed to just keep him talking for a little bit.

Saren glared at the blue Mandalorian as he replied, "the Reapers can't be stopped. Their curiosity about the bounty hunter is just that, curiosity. It won't save you from what's to come. No amount of reinforcements can."

Shepard could hear the familiar sound of Jango twirling his pistol as Saren continued, "the Reapers will find a way even if you stop me here."

She had been trying to talk Saren out of helping the Reapers use the Citadel as a mass relay to get the rest of the Reaper forces into known space. It had little affect so far but she decided to try again as sh…

What appeared to be a laser from Jango's weapon penetrated Saren's skull and left a sizzling hole. There was shock on her face that turned to anger as she turned back to the Mandalorian to see him get thrown back by a furious Liara. "Garrus, stop her," Shepard commanded as she turned back and ran up to the Citadel's arm controls as Saren fell.

If the Reaper's wanted to keep the Citadel closed off to the fleet waiting outside, she'd force it open from the emergency controls here. She just hoped that the fleet would be able to destroy Sovereign in time.

"Joker get the fleets ready, we're at the main controls for the Citadel," Shepard spoke into her comms as she began using the holographic controls in front of her.

There was a slight pause before Joker replied, "they're already on standby but the Ascension is in trouble. We can either wait to hit Sovereign when it's vulnerable or go in now and try to save the Council."

Shepard knew her decision already but she stood silent for a few moments steeling herself. "Save the Ascension," she replied as the arms opened up and the fleet that was blocked off outside flooded in to attack Sovereign. She didn't know how many lives she had just sacrificed but she didn't want to think about it right now.

Only a few moments later a red energy shook the room as Saren's corpse exploded with energy.

* * *

So that was the thanks he got for killing a known terrorist and traitor that was trying to destroy the galaxy; a biotic blast to the face. He had been knocked on his back and barely rolled to his side before he was thrown on to his back again. An irate looking Liara stood over him before punching at his helmet.

Beskar iron was hard however and she found herself hurting her hand instead. "How could you," the Asari shouted at him as he lay there disorientated. "I trusted you, you even saved me! Then you killed my mother for some extra credits!" The next punch was biotic infused and hurt a hell of a lot more.

With his one good hand, Jango managed to grapple her arm before throwing her off him. "Saren had to be stopped along with your mother, it was happening one way or the other," Jango grumbled out as he got to his knees. It wasn't even a sorry but he was a bounty hunter not a pacifist. His job came with situations like this and he couldn't let his emotions get in the way of a contract though he couldn't deny his feelings of guilt at the moment.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye," Liara said as another blast knocked him back.

Garrus finally arrived and held Liara speaking too low for Jango to hear. She had at least ceased attacking him so he was thankful for that at least. He slowly rose once more to his shaken feet.

The Mandalorian wasn't one for comforting others but he could at least try for the girl because despite technically being older than him, she was obviously emotionally younger. His helmet finally came off and Liara could see a worn out but unbroken warrior. The helmet covered how bad his condition was. Blood ran down the side of his head and his breathing was labored; along with that the now calmed Asari could see that his arm was hanging at an odd angle. His eyes met Liara's as he spoke, "I can't bring your mother back. I don't think anything could by that point. She was enslaved to Saren's will and desperately wanted to be free."

Jango's thoughts wandered as anger filled his voice. He had always despised slavery and he knew that what Benezia had gone through had been worse than simple slavery. "I'm sorry that your mother is gone, but know that in her last moments she was free and with you. That's all I could have given her, all anyone could give her." This was as compassionate as he could be. Fett killed people, he didn't save them. The look in his eyes gave Liara a small glimpse into a life of pain and sorrow.

Jango could see through his blurry vision that tears were running down Liara's face. As he looked down at his helmet, the image of a tired, broken, old man stared back up at him from his visor. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he put his helmet back on. He didn't bother turning back to see Liara's reaction.

A red pulse filled the room and the trio turned to see the platform Shepard was standing on fall. "Haar'chak," Jango cursed as he limped his way up the stairs to Shepard.

Shepard's two companions managed to make it to the platform faster than Jango could. Jango was just barely looking down below as the three engaged a robotic skeletal version of Saren. He could hear the robotic voice of Sovereign speaking through Saren's corpse, "YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED." The sound seemed to reverberate inside his head. The nightmarish metal creature was just a puppet now. The Mandalorian let out a low groan as he descended the make-shift ramp.

Once at the bottom he opened fire on the quick creature. He was glad there was a biotic in the group as that was the only thing that could keep it still long enough for any of the group to get a shot at it. Jango had to limply dodge to the side to avoid a few projectiles as his companions kept fire upon it.

This thing was insanely fast and managed to scoop Jango up by the back of his neck before throwing him at a wall. He hit the wall hard before falling to the ground. He laid there for a while simply coughing and groaning. His wounds along with the current beating should have knocked him out or killed him by now. But he was a Mandalorian, so he slowly pushed himself to his feet and reentered the fray.

* * *

The Alliance fleet had flown in to save the Council and stop Sovereign. The single ship seemed to have the firepower of an entire fleet as it destroyed ship after ship with what appeared to be lasers. The battle was uncertain and Joker was nervous as he flew circles around the Reaper coming in for an attack every few circles.

It was on his latest run that he noticed another insanely fast ship firing lasers. The Slave I was on the scene and doing more damage than quite a few of the larger ships. He would have been impressed if he wasn't the great pilot that he was. He flew away from the Reaper and went to make another go around.

* * *

Garrus was knocked down and getting back up, Shepard was firing and missing Saren, Liara was still charging up her biotic attack, and Jango was currently trying to stay awake and keep firing. This thing was a monster.

Another barrage of small explosives from the monster knocked the rest of the group off their feet. Jango was just getting to his feet as a hand covered his visor. The thing had grabbed him by the head before picking him up. It lifted him completely off the ground and hung him there for a moment. He weakly grabbed the thing's wrist with his good hand but the thing brought him back down to the ground. He felt his world spin and his body ache as he went head first into the ground.

It immediately began beating him like a savage animal with metal swords for arms. He let out yells of pain with every hit but he was too weak to keep up with the monstrous creature. It reared its arm back before plunging it downward.

The bounty hunter rolled left but the creature changed course with him and impaled his leg instead. He screamed out in pain this time as the thing dragged him back. He managed to roll over to see "Saren's" eyes light up as it was about to launch an explosive attack at point blank range.

Jango reflected on the people he had killed. He knew not all of them had deserved it and that some of them had. He had thought about the Jedi and Dark Jedi he had killed. His thoughts drifted to his clone son. He couldn't die here, he had to get back.

A biotic blast sent the creature flying as bullets flew over him. Jango attempted to sit up but his body was simply too weak to do that anymore.

Jango could see Liara glaring at him with a look of cold determination. He managed to turn his head to spot the charred corpse of Saren on fire just before it turned to ash.

* * *

Tali was worried about Jango but was currently more worried about the battle. The entire fleet had barely been able to get past the Reaper's shields. She needed to think of something fast or this was going to be a slaughter. She turned the Slave I around and flew right by the Reaper before releasing some cargo next to it and flying away.

There was stillness in the battlefield for a few seconds. For a few moments that seemed to stretch on the entire battle seemed to freeze. It was almost serene before a giant explosion rung out. In actuality they didn't hear the explosion itself but the force of the explosion caused the ships to rock and groan. It looked like a wave of energy had bypassed the Reaper's shields and hit its mass.

Its armor was thick but the wave seemed to cut it like a sword. The Reaper tilted for a second as a large section was cut and bent inward as pieces of it scattered. She needed to do that again. "Show off," she heard the voice of Joker say over public comms as she smiled.

She was about to make another run when red lights seemed to dance across the Reaper's surface. It slowly detached from the tower before falling down towards the bottom of the Citadel. Its shields were down, now was the time to strike!

All ships opened fire as the Normandy swooped in for one last strike to break the Reaper into pieces. She saw a large piece heading towards the tower.

She was in the public comms as everyone was trying to coordinate and heard Joker say, "we need a team to the Council chambers. Shepard and her team are in there!"

Her heart sank as she realized who was most likely with Shepard.

* * *

Jango awoke to darkness—no that wasn't right—he could see light out of the corner of his eye. He managed to roll himself over and saw what looked like a hole. It took him a few seconds to get oriented but with one arm he began to crawl. He dragged himself out of the hole and saw that he was still in the tower.

The room had been trashed by pieces of the destroyed Reaper. He had been nearly crushed under one of the pieces he had just crawled out of. He managed to turn his head to see a blood trail behind him. He needed to find help fast but he could feel his strength fading. It was an effort just to stay conscious at this point.

He could vaguely hear voices as he managed to lift himself onto a piece of the Reaper. He groaned as he pulled himself up. His helmet was now blocking his vision as there was blood on his visor. Hell even if that wasn't happening one of his eyes refused to open. He just had to get up this piece of the Reaper and then he'd be fine.

His vision was fading in and out. He remembered his clan as his mind wandered. They were strong, honorable, and wise. He remembered the Deathwatch traitors and the Jedi who killed his clan. His clan didn't deserve that death, they had done nothing wrong.

His rage fueled him forward as he climbed.

He remembered his parents dying at the hands of Deathwatch.

His suffering fueled him forward.

He remembered strangling the traitor of his clan.

His retribution fueled him forward.

He remembered personally executing the leader of Deathwatch.

His vengeance fueled him forward.

He remembered Tali who would be saddened by his death.

His loyalty fueled him forward.

He thought of his son Boba.

His son fueled him forward.

Finally he crested over the piece of metal he was climbing up. He could see across the room, individuals were digging through the rubble although he couldn't discern who they were or what they looked like.

He raised one arm up and let out one last defiant roar before his vision grew blurry and all became dark.

* * *

Shepard and her crew had nearly been crushed by the wreckage of Sovereign that had destroyed the Council chambers. In fact her crew had even thought she was dead before she had come up and over the remains of the Reaper.

She was currently talking with some of the emergency response units and Anderson. She had come out but she hadn't seen Jango. "He's still in there; I didn't see him come out of the rubble."

One of the paramedics was looking around the general area but it was a big room and hard to traverse due to the wreckage. Shepard was sitting down exhausted with Garrus and Liara when everyone heard the sound of metal scraping against metal.

From the far side of the room the noise grew to an aggravating level. Many of the paramedics stopped for a second worried that the Reaper wasn't fully dead but a few moments later it was apparent none of the machinery was moving.

Then a small blue figure raised himself up and over a broken piece of the Reaper. Shepard instantly recognized it as a bruised and beaten Jango. He let out a weakened moan as he raised up his arm before seemingly passing out.

Shepard allowed herself to smile for a moment knowing everyone had made it as the paramedics rushed to get the bounty hunter.

* * *

Jango awoke coughing and in a great deal of pain as he realized he was being carried on a cot. He looked and saw a few paramedics carrying him somewhere. His helmet was still on which he thought was odd but he couldn't move a good majority of his body so he couldn't get it off.

He could see Shepard from where he was. She wasn't very far away and it looked like she was with Anderson and an unfamiliar figure. They were arguing about something as the paramedics put him down on a hard object. He couldn't tell what it was but with the way it hummed he imagined it was a vehicle of some kind.

Shepard was now yelling at Udina who was in turn yelling back. He could only make out bits and pieces of it but he managed to pick out that Udina wasn't going to be the human Councilor. Weren't there only three Councilors?

It was only then he heard a single line that caused him to worry. "You can't just take everything he has. Jango helped bring down Saren and you're going to arrest him?" Shepard's voice was distinct which helped him piece out what she had said.

On a positive note he had gotten in the good graces of Shepard, but if they were going to arrest him, they were going to strip him of his weapons and armor. He had bigger problems to worry about if he was going to be thrown in prison but he couldn't really move to get away. He didn't have many options but to hope that Shepard could get him out of this situation; so much for having the only weaponry that could go through personal shields in the entire galaxy.

Now that he thought about it they might try and get Tali and the Slave I. That was his ship but more importantly he imagined Tali wouldn't be treated very kindly. Quarians were shunned in Citadel space because of the Geth and she had been collaborating with him. He had to do something but from his position he couldn't physically act.

He slowly raised his good arm to his helmet. His comms finally came on as he spoke in a quiet tone, "Tali are you there?"

There was a few moments of silence before he heard her reply, "yeah I'm here, are you okay Jango? I was worried after that piece of debris crashed into the Council chambers."

Jango coughed a few times before replying, "I'm fine. Where are you right now?"

"I'm by one of the docking bays. I was waiting to meet someone from security so they could take me to you." Tali's response didn't put Jango at ease as he realized what was likely happening.

He found the strength to speak in a stronger tone as he replied, "you need to get back to the Slave I and leave. They're confiscating my equipment and taking me into custody. They'll likely do the same to you and the Slave I."

It was a few moments before Tali replied, "what about you?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll be ok but you need to get out of here. Take the Slave I and keep her safe. Use her to take you back to the Quarian fleet." Jango cut himself off as he began coughing furiously.

"I don't want to leave you here," Tali replied in a worried tone. "You're always doing things your own way and by yourself but I don't want it to be like that."

Jango really didn't have the time for this. She had to leave before whatever security they were sending showed up. "Just go, we'll meet up later. Besides you need to get back to the Flotoya fleet and prove you did something worthwhile for your pilgrimage."

Tali sighed before saying, "its Flotilla not "Flotoya." And that's an individual ship, you're thinking about the Migrant Fleet. I don't even have a way to prove I did half these things without Shepard besides I want you to see the Migrant fleet with me." In truth the Migrant Fleet isn't very welcoming of outsiders but she'd tell half-truths if he'd just come with her.

"There's video records I have saved for bounties on the Slave I. I'm uploading the current video feed from this mission from my helmet to the Slave I as we speak," Jango replied as he tried leaning up in his cot but failed. He could feel the vehicle lift off as it took him to what he assumed was a hospital. "There's a password for the files in there. It'll ask the question, "which individual encompasses all the values of a Mandalorian." The answer will be "Mandalore." That should be enough to prove you completed your Pilgrimage."

There was silence on the other end for some time before Tali finally replied, "you promise you'll be ok?"

"Promise," Jango lied as whatever he was riding cruised through the Citadel. "Now get going."

There was silence on the other line and Jango took that as she was following his instructions. He decided he should catch some rest for now. Not like he was going to be doing anything exciting anytime soon and he was tired.

* * *

The Mandalorian awoke to the sight of Shepard standing over him. He had been stripped out of his armor and he was lying on a bed of some kind. He had been going in and out of consciousness for some time and this was probably the longest he had been awake so far. "Shepard," the bounty hunter greeted.

She was still in her armor so that meant it couldn't be that long after the battle. She put on a small but forced smile as she replied, "glad to see you're awake." There was an awkward pause afterward as she appeared to be thinking of what to say next. "First things first, the doctors say you're lucky to be alive. You suffered plenty of wounds in the fight but apparently you also had preexisting wounds that were worsened. It was impressive hearing a list ranging from concussion, to bullet wounds, to broken bones, then deep gashes, and finally internal bleeding. Of course there was also the deep gash in your leg as well which will require therapy to be fully functional again. There was more but I can't remember it all."

That was a long list, even for him. Jango sat for a moment and then replied, "how long was I out?" After the question, he took a few seconds to stare down at his right arm. He still couldn't move it and being out of his armor made him feel more vulnerable than he already was. In fact now that he focused he couldn't feel his arm at all and why did they cover it? His faced turned to one that was a mix between frustration, anger, and grim acceptance as he realized the implication.

"It's been about three days," Shepard replied as she followed his line of sight down to his arm. Her smile turned to a grimace as she continued, "your arm was the worst of it. They couldn't figure out how you even got your arm that fucked up. The muscles, bones, and pretty much everything else melted and fused into a completely unrecognizable liquid substance inside your skin." She paused after letting the truth of the matter sink in. Shepard looked Fett dead in the eyes before continuing, "they had to amputate your arm. They've given you a temporary cybernetic replacement but don't want you escaping so it's not attached."

Jango looked across the room at a metal case. He couldn't believe it. His arm was actually just gone. It was an odd feeling. He knew it wasn't there but it still felt like it was there just completely numb; like some part of his brain just refused to accept it.

Shepard gave him a sympathetic smile but it once again turned to a frown as she continued, "I'm afraid that's not all." She tapped on her omni-tool a few times before a screen popped up. News headlines sprawled out across the screen. Most read something along the lines of, "Terrorist Stopped by First Human Spectre Commander Shepard." It wasn't the headlines that caught his attention however.

The article described some of her adventures and even her crew was included to a degree. The real problem was that he didn't see himself anywhere in all of this. Shepard pointed to a subsection of the thread; there was a small page for himself that read, "Jango Fett: dangerous outlaw and bounty hunter was seen hindering Commander Shepard on multiple occasions. His whereabouts are currently unknown but the Council has assured us that this criminal will be brought to justice."

An aggravated frown adorned Jango's face as he did his best to get his thoughts off his arm. "They're covering it up. I have a few guesses but any reason why," Jango questioned as he put a finger to the holographic image and scrolled down the page.

"Apparently they don't want a less than reputable element tarnishing the story. Well that's the reason they've given me but I'm pretty sure they're lying," Shepard replied as she pulled up an image of C-Sec officers transporting what looked like his weapons and armor into a high security facility. "What they really wanted was the equipment you had and taking technology from a criminal is legal," Shepard said as she closed the image.

The bounty hunter sighed as he leaned back in his bed. Things could be better but at least he wasn't dead. He rubbed his missing arm as he continued, "I'm being charged aren't I?"

Shepard nodded her head as she replied, "you're being charged with a lot. I've got a lot of pull and sway right now so they probably won't get too far but I can't promise anything." She looked away before continuing, "we've had our differences but what they're doing to you is wrong." Jango was about to reply with a "thanks" before Shepard cut him off. "I appreciate what you did for Kaiden, thank you."

Jango was pleasantly surprised how much saving Kaiden had affected Shepard. "Thanks but that was mostly Tali, how is she doing?" Jango had lied to her but he hoped that Tali wouldn't be too angry. More importantly he hoped she had gotten away. Besides if he somehow got out of this without going to prison he might not have lied at all.

Shepard's frown disappeared as she replied, "Tali was able to make it back to the Slave I before anyone could even talk to her. Apparently she got an anonymous tip that she was wanted for questioning by C-Sec and took off." Shepard's tone had grown playful as she gave the Mandalorian a wry grin.

"Don't read too much into it Shepard," Jango replied as he squinted at her. It would have been intimidating if he wasn't bed ridden. "I take it you don't know if she got back to the Fleet yet?"

Shepard shook her head before she replied, "no. No one has heard from her since she took off."

Jango nodded before replying, "that's alright. She's resourceful and she has the Slave I." The Mandalorian yawned as he began to feel drowsiness falling over him.

Shepard smiled before saying, "I'll let you get some sleep; talk to you later Jango." The Commander stood up from her seat before heading for the door.

"Good luck with the bureaucrats Shepard," Jango replied as he closed his eyes.

* * *

Fair warning, I plan on finishing another story I've been writing before I even plan on touching the spinoff. Then I plan on finishing the first spinoff before I touch the next story. During which I might touch on another story I've also been working on. To put it simply I plan on a long hiatus between this story and the Mass Effect 2 story, sorry.

Also remember that there's going to be one more chapter to this, an epilogue.


	10. Epilogue: Another Bounty Gone Wrong

Author's note: 

I apologize sincerely. I somehow missed the section in Tali's part where I wrote poorly enough to confuse myself. I like to think that I'm improving over time, not getting worse. I simply had to remove this mistake and re-upload the chapter. I apologize for any inconvenience and confusion.

One last time, I plan on continuing this story. I'll be doing a short spinoff for the in-between of Mass Effect 1 and 2 then I'll be continuing onto 2. Of course before that I have other stories to finish so this will be on hiatus for now.

 _"Text"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Mass Effect, or any associated characters._

 **A Hunter Out of Place**

 _Epilogue: Another Bounty Gone Wrong_

* * *

The lights and energy that came off the star did much to soothe the Illusive Man's growing concerns. There were a lot of disturbing reports coming from his spies and informants. There was always so much to do and so little time.

A holographic image blinked to life before him as he read the report once more. His agents keeping track of Commander Shepard had initially sent him a report about the Collectors attacking the Normandy close to a week ago. It read, _"A foreign ship similar to the appearance of the rumored Collector ships appeared a month after the battle with the Reaper and engaged Shepard. It fired at the Normandy using a laser weapon similar to that used by the bounty hunter Jango Fett but in a concentrated stream. Shepard was lost during the ensuing fight."_ That would put his plans behind. Shepard was to play an integral role in his plans for stopping the Reapers so he couldn't allow her to stay dead.

What was more disturbing than the attack itself was the speed of the Reaper's retaliation and their apparent tools already in the galaxy. Initial reports had believed that the Reaper's were stuck outside of their galaxy for now thanks to the events that transpired on the Citadel more than a month ago. It only took them a month and the Reaper's had taken out one of their biggest threats.

It had been a week since the battle and the death of the Commander and a new report helped alleviate some of his stress. Shepard's body had been found. It was intact enough that they could most likely bring her back given time. Unfortunately with the speed of this retaliation, the Illusive Man was worried they didn't have the time. He had already put some of his best and brightest on Project Lazarus and he had high expectations for the success of it. For now he'd have to put it away as he had more pressing concerns.

The Council had been quick in trying to backwards engineering the foreign technology found on the bounty hunter Jango Fett. It would still take years or possibly decades to fully develop it but he imagined that within the year they would start developing prototypes. By another year or two they would start arming special task forces with these weapons; mostly likely Spectres. What they didn't know was that they had been infiltrated and that any progress that they made would be Cerberus progress as well.

What was more concerning was that the Quarian's had gotten ahold of the Slave I. Tali'Zorah nar Raaya had been accepted by the fleet upon her return and had been working on the Slave I with help. They were known for their brilliant technicians and engineers. They would have it figured out with time and the Flotilla wasn't welcoming to newcomers, especially Cerberus. The Quarians would have an advantage over humanity and that was something he couldn't allow. At the moment he couldn't do anything about it but plans were underway to ensure that humanity would gain the technology hidden within that ship. For now he'd just have to be patient.

There were also hidden elements moving behind the scenes. The Shadow Broker was making moves to acquire as much of the strange technology as he or she could. It made sense but the sheer lengths being taken seemed out of character. Something was wrong but he hadn't gotten word from any of his agents searching into the matter. He'd have to make sure they hadn't been compromised.

Another image displayed itself on his monitor. A video feed of a man standing before the Council greeted him as his eyes switched from the Councilor's to the man. The man was wearing a plain white long sleeve shirt and pants with cuffs around his wrists. They were meeting in a private room and he was extremely interested in how this series of events would unfold. The idea of recruiting the bounty hunter to his cause had crossed his mind but the man was currently out of his reach.

Of course there was Anderson on the Council now, a fact he was infinitely grateful to Shepard for. Despite bureaucracy slowing the process down, Shepard's backing of Anderson given him the position in about a month. Humanity finally had a say in how matters went in Citadel space but he doubted it would help the defendant here. Anderson had only heard stories of the man but never met him. Video records of the bounty hunter were also surprisingly scarce.

He had also looked into the man's records and had come up frustratingly short. There were no records of a birth, history, or family. The only records were from two months or so when he appeared during the first Reaper sighting. It was like the man had appeared out of thin air. He would have his agents look into his background more for now. No man could keep his secrets hidden forever and no one appeared from thin air.

* * *

Jango was no politician. He wasn't a people person, persuasive, or a conman. He could make deals with his employers for his services but the only time he had ever had to be persuasive was when he had led his own clan. Even then it was mostly by force; Mandalorians didn't follow you unless you were strong and got results. He also hadn't had to deal with getting caught before unless it was part of the plan.

He was understandably unsure about his current situation standing before the Council. They had drug him off to a secluded room with no witnesses and he was worried that they planned on executing him. Thinking about it for longer than a few seconds made him realize that they wouldn't; most of the Councilors were against such acts and they were curious about him or more accurately his gear.

Over the past month they had kept him in isolation after he recovered. They questioned him endlessly about his technology and where it had come from. They were also curious about who he was too but he had given them nothing. Besides he didn't have to tell them, Tali had the information now so it would no doubt become public over time. He wasn't exactly happy about it but it was out of his control.

The month where Shepard had protected him from the politicians and bureaucrats had been strange. Being bed ridden for so long was a foreign experience for him. What was a more harrowing to endure was trying to cope with his missing arm. For the longest time they hadn't allowed him to even attempt to use his new prosthetic arm. He'd often find himself trying to grasp at an item only to realize that his arm was no longer there. With time he was sure he could overcome this handicap, he was tougher than most.

Of course coming to the Council chambers he had been allowed the use of his new prosthetic limb. They didn't want to make it look like they were being unkind to someone who had lost a limb protecting the Citadel though most of the general populace didn't know that last part.

The feeling of his new limb was strange. It responded to his commands and he could see it moving but there was a certain disconnection with it. He couldn't feel it moving like his own arm had so he had to blindly trust that it was moving when he wasn't looking at it. This also made grasping for objects hard as he had to look at whatever he was trying to grab. He couldn't simply feel his hand wrapping around whatever he desired to grab. He'd also have to retrain his trigger finger with his new arm eventually.

He had heard that there were more advanced limbs that could connect the nerves in his body to his arm to simulate the feeling. The thought crossed his mind that the Council simply didn't want him having too advanced prosthetics out of safety or out of a certain grudge against him. He would deal with it for now until he could get a replacement.

There was also a limp to his gait now as his leg had been severely injured. The arm that had pierced his appendage had torn through the muscle and sinew in his leg and had torn a hole all the way through. The doctors were surprised he hadn't succumbed to shock and bled to death. Jango had paid for it later as walking had proved incredibly difficult at first and only after over two weeks of therapy was he able to limp his way to the chamber he stood in now.

The most disturbing event had been Shepard's death. He wasn't exactly fond of her but she was better than most of the beings he had met in this galaxy. She was also one of the people that was actively working against the Reapers. Her disappearance only a month after the battle was worrying. More importantly it meant he didn't have the support of a Spectre at his back to keep him out of trouble.

"Jango Fett. You have been charged with assault and battery, disturbing the peace, theft, kidnapping, and first and second degree murder," the one he knew only as the Turian Councilor said. He could feel the glares coming from the Council. Except for the Salarian which had a more quizzical nature about him; he was a weird one.

There was a long silence as they either tried to let it sink in or intimidate him. Either way it didn't work, he had been through worse. The Asari Councilor continued, "normally we would have an immediate public trial and imprisonment, however there are certain factors that would inhibit this." Jango had an idea of where this was going but let her continue. "We have reason to believe you have information that could be vital into the investigation behind the Commander's death."

This was just another way to pry into his secrets to hopefully get information on the technology he had; he wouldn't bite the bait. Besides he had a general idea who did it but that was it. It wouldn't get him out of this situation; the Council was in complete denial about the Reapers. "We also understand that you refuse to share this information, disappointing," the Salarian said in a quick and factual tone.

The only reason he hadn't been sent through a public justice system and to a prison was because they wanted all his technology from him. They weren't that heartbroken over the Commander. In fact as far as he knew, they still hadn't released publicly that he had been arrested. "Due to your stubborn and willful disregard to perfectly normal requests, we have decided to send you to a facility where you will remain until you're more willing to cooperate," the Turian Councilor spoke afterwards.

There was an odd look on Anderson's face and Fett figured he disagreed with his fellow Councilor's decisions. He was still relatively new to the whole thing that was evident. "That's why we've decided to make use of the Purgatory facility for the time being. You will remain here until such a time as the Council has need of you," Anderson spoke as his face went through a wide range of emotions, most being close to disgust. Jango didn't speak a word during the entire process. He was damned if he spoke and damned if he didn't.

* * *

Tali felt bittersweet about many of the events that unfolded over the past month. Jango had evidently lied to her; well really she didn't know. No one had seen him since the battle for the Citadel and he hadn't tried to contact her so she assumed he was in some sort of trouble. When she thought back on it, Jango had hidden most things about himself. She had a general idea of his attitude but not who he truly was.

That all changed when she had gotten away from the Citadel. She had been sad about leaving Jango behind despite only traveling with him for a month but in that month he had taught her many things even if he was a stubborn old man. She had always been better with building ships instead of flying them but Jango had in essence forced her to become a better pilot. She wasn't the best but Tali personally believed given time she could give Joker a run for his money.

That was if she decided to pursue that. Without Jango there she initially didn't know what to do. Her idle curiosity turned to the information that Jango had given her. She now had full unrestricted access to the ship and the files stored on it. So with ample free time and some supplies left over by the bounty hunter she began reading.

It took a solid week of reading and tinkering with the ship before she truly understood where Jango had hidden many of his files. The initial access had led to an over abundance of information she had to sort through before she could find the juicer pieces of information. It might not have taken as long if she didn't have her own decisions to make about her own future.

This changed once she found the credits Jango had stored up over his time in her galaxy. It had been put into near untraceable accounts and all the information for accessing them was stored on the ship. She now had plenty of credits to spend and she was able to leisurely read through the files at her own pace once she had gotten hold

* * *

She almost couldn't believe it at first. The idea that he was from an entirely separate galaxy was absurd in her mind. How could one go from one galaxy to another in the blink of an eye? But the truth now lay before her as she continued reading. An entirely separate galaxy with so many species and beings it seemed absurd.

It had taken time but she had sorted through most of the information over the following days after she had found some of the more well hidden files. There were most likely still some she hadn't found but she had found and read most of the files in his ship now.

This entirely separate galaxy fascinated and completely changed her viewpoints on a lot of things. The idea of the Force seemed preposterous in her mind but in this galaxy it seemed to be a widely accepted thing. She also couldn't deny the possibility after seeing the footage of Fett fighting the Dark Jedi. The fact he was such a well-known bounty hunter in his own galaxy surprised her but the more she thought about it the more it made sense.

Fett had high tech equipment and training with no one knowing where he had come from. It was like he was from a different galaxy. His lack of knowledge on the Flotilla and other obvious facts about the galaxy made sense now. All this technology was fascinating to be sure but the sheer amount of species in his galaxy was staggering. So many different kinds all (mostly) coexisting.

In fact his whole mission involving the Bando Gora had fascinated Tali. The drugs that were offered had given some insight but moreover it was interesting to see him interacting with others in such a joking manner. She wondered what had changed or if perhaps he had a more soft side after all. The cult's hideout had been the most exciting part of his journey and she had watched on in fascination as he took down his rival and the Dark Jedi after.

There was bad blood between the two warriors. She couldn't figure out what but this other Mandalorian had done Jango Fett wrong somehow. There were a few references to a clan that he was no longer part of. The idea of him losing his family saddened Tali but also brought some clarity to his attitude.

Probably the most impressive thing was that he had impressed the right people enough to have an entire clone army made in his image. The idea was boggling and somewhat depressing. Being born to fight and die didn't seem like a bright future for anyone.

Then she got to how he got here. Possibly the most interesting piece of technology was this tiny little device that had been used against him. The pale being that had chucked it at him had run for its life just after. The bounty hunter initially thought it was some kind of explosive that the files deemed a "Thermal Imploder" but upon closer inspection the pictures between the two didn't match up. Tali guessed that this was the device that had sent him here.

Her digging had later revealed that he had a rough childhood; his parents being killed to then be raised by a clan of warriors. Only something bad happened to this clan as well as they were somehow tricked. A lot of her initial anger and frustration with the Mandalorian dissipated as she continued reading. He was distant because he had been hurt before. In fact the only thing he had close to a family anymore was his clone son Boba and now he was stranded in an entirely separate galaxy from him.

A new feeling of pity grew inside her for the bounty hunter but she squashed it. Jango wouldn't want her to feel pity for him, the stubborn fool that he was.

She reflected on her past experiences with the Mandalorian. She had always felt at arms-reach with him but reading over these files made her realize he was like that with everyone. In fact he had opened up to her far more than most everyone he knew. Tali was grateful that he had taught her how to pilot the Slave I, even if it was trial by fire. Even if it was all hands off training he had still taught her how to survive in an unforgiving galaxy. In fact because of him now she could return to the Flotilla if she wanted to with her head held high.

With the new schematics and information in hand she decided to head back to the Flotilla. With all this, she'd be welcomed back as a hero. She'd had an entirely separate decision to make before she returned however. A new galaxy would revolutionize hers. Not to mention the technology and the force as there were several schematics inside the ship's files.

Did she want that though? Was a galaxy with this knowledge a safe galaxy or would it lead to disaster? What if they found a way to get to this galaxy? Would there be peace? There were too many questions she didn't have answers to. She decided to wait. She downloaded the files onto a separate drive before deleting the current ones off the Slave I records. She'd keep the schematics for the ship's weapons and tech on the Slave I but she'd keep the knowledge on this new galaxy to herself as well as some of the more dangerous schematics. She'd also hold onto Jango's secrets for now too.

* * *

She was back amongst her own people. It had been roughly a few days travel followed by a week of just visiting family. She was accepted back and almost immediately assigned one of the head engineers of reproducing much of the technology aboard the Slave I. Some had of course asked questions about the mysterious bounty hunter but she had avoided them all so far. She didn't know how long it'd take or even if she would see Jango again but she was grateful. One day she would pay him back for what he had given her and also smack him upside the head for leaving her on all those missions.

"Tali, I need to discuss some details about the engines with you and I figured you were hungry so I made dinner." Tali turned to the sound of her father's voice and smiled underneath her helmet. A lot of what she had was thanks to Jango but her father had helped her most of her life. For now she'd focus the here and now.

She felt her thoughts linger on the bounty hunter as she walked towards the kitchen despite herself. She hoped that one day the bounty hunter would found his way home and not be so out of place in an unknown galaxy.

* * *

A large figure sat in a chair inside a dimly lit room. He had been keeping track of the incident since it had first come to his attention. He knew Sovereign would fall during the fight from the information his informants had gathered. Now he just needed to focus on his own goals. He had to prepare for later threats Reaper or otherwise.

Now that he was thinking of it; a holographic file appeared in front of the figure. The Illusive Man's spies had been found or at least the majority of them. This was good news but overall didn't matter. The spies wouldn't have been able to find anything crucial on him, besides Cerberus's spies had given him vital information on the technology being backwards engineered by the Council. Of course he had a better source but it was always good to not put all your eggs in one bag; a human saying that he had taken to heart.

Of course he could have his own informants gather enough information to break Jango out of prison but he didn't need him. In fact his place in prison served the figure well; the bounty hunter wouldn't be able to interfere with his plans.

Shepard's death was disturbing as even his own reports hadn't accounted for the Collectors working for the Reapers. A disturbing development he would have to deal with later. For now he would focus his efforts on the Quarians, everything else had been accounted for. His spies inside the Flotilla had been digging but had little success so far. It mattered little, given time he would get what he wanted. Even if he didn't, it would only be a minor setback.

A different holographic image displayed itself as he made a call. It rung for only a few moments before a pale, tall, and lengthy figure presented itself on screen. "Hello Broker," the pale figure greeted in a slow and soothing tone. "I did not expect to be hearing from you so soon."

The Shadow Broker smirked although the other being wouldn't know it as the encryption kept his true form and voice hidden. "I was just calling to inform you we have made headway with the Council research and you'll have more information shortly," he replied as the voice filter changed his voice to sound lower and menacing. "I also wanted to inform you the bounty hunter has been sent away to Purgatory."

The pale figure nodded his head in satisfaction before replying, "good. I did not want to deal with him again but more importantly this new research will speed up my own. Given time I'm sure I can recreate the technology from my own home for your use." The soft tone hid malicious intent for the Mandalorian but was quickly dissipated as he continued, "and given enough time I can recreate top tier clones for you."

The Broker's smile grew wider before he replied, "excellent, we don't know how much time we have before the Reapers return. I'll leave you to your research Rei Den." A few moments later and the image dissipated as the broker began moving other pawns into place.

* * *

Rei had plans of his own. Of course he wouldn't break his deal with the Broker but he also wouldn't slow his own research. It was with this thought in mind that he turned to a round device on a table. "You will be my greatest creation with time; after all, perfection cannot be rushed."

* * *

Stripped of his armor, stripped of his weapons, but never stripped of his pride Jango was being escorted to his cell. The guards believed that they could simply cuff him, a mistake he would exploit later when the time was right. He was impressed by the space prison however. It reminded him of the rumors of a Jedi prison hidden somewhere in his own galaxy. Prisoners couldn't escape if they had nowhere to go except into the vacuum.

His trial had been short and his escort here had been nearly as short. He had little time to reflect on the past few months in this galaxy. His thoughts drifted to Tali, his most immediate concern. He hoped she was doing alright wherever she was now. He supposed she most likely went back to the fleet and to her people. It was for the best; he was more of a lone wolf after all.

Then his thoughts turned to his son and home. He would have to keep his son waiting far longer than he liked. The bounty hunter knew one day that he would escape this prison and rebuild his funding so he could find or pay for a way home. He admitted that he had gotten caught up in the hunt and he was definitely paying for it now.

A jumpsuit had been given to him and he was to be put into one of the public sections. It would be interesting to see the kind of lowlife that this prison attracted. The guards were somewhat annoying; he had already seen several cases of inmates being beaten for the smallest mistakes. He would have to play his cards carefully here.

The Reapers were another concern he was going to face during his stay here. He doubted that their plan was foiled after this one attempt. Supposedly there were more of them somewhere. If he could, he'd find his way home and never look back. He preferred his own galaxy where things made more sense and there were no Mass Relays.

Many of the inmates hooted and howled at the new guy as Jango was thrown into a small elevator. It went downward several floors before opening. Several inmates were already standing in front of the elevator. One of the cockier ones stepped forward before asking, "hey new guy, what's your name?"

Jango shrugged his shoulders as the cuffs automatically unlocked themselves. "Just call me Fett," Jango replied as he stepped out of the elevator with a limp to his gait.

* * *

This is it. This is the end of this first book? Part? Arc? This is actually the first story I've finished on fanfiction. I'm rather proud but I also know that the earlier chapters could use work. Maybe one day I'll go back and redo it.

For now just know that I plan on doing a miniseries between this story and the Mass Effect 2 one. I'll probably call it Jango's Misadventures or something like that. I figure that I'll post one last chapter after this with the information for the new story when it's finally up or perhaps I shouldn't?

For now thank you for reading this story and leaving your many comments and replies. I appreciated writing this and improving my own writing. This story is going on hiatus so don't expect to see the next part for a while.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again someday.


End file.
